Dragon Ball: Millennial
by crionics99
Summary: A thousand years after the time of the Z Fighters, the Saiyan race has once again risen to the forefront of battle prowess. When the Earth is threatened once more by a terrible power not seen in forty generations, the four strongest warriors of their time are called into service, creating the events that will shape their history.
1. Kailan's Struggle

Kailan had just picked up some groceries for the group, and looked absurd as she exited the store, barely able to squeeze the giant bags through the double sliding doors. The sight of a five-foot-tall girl carrying ten times her own size in food was simply ridiculous. People stopped and asked if they could help her out, but she just smiled politely and insisted that she was fine. She was used to being asked if she needed help each week, as she was always lumped with getting the food for the group, although sometimes one of the others helped her. She hated doing it, as she was usually made to cook as well. Being a group of martial artists, they all ate a lot, so it was a lot of work, and she was nearly always exhausted from training.

It wasn't long before a group of five enormous men approached her and asked if they could help her out, and started taking bags off of her. They were all at least six-feet or taller, and sported huge muscular builds.

"I'm fine, thanks," she told the three men who'd taken bags off of her. "I'll take those back."

"No, we insist," said one with a grin. "A pretty little thing like you shouldn't have to struggle with all that weight. Let us big, strong guys carry them for you."

"I said I'm fine," Kailan grunted in annoyance. "Give them back to me."

"I don't think she takes a hint too well," said another. "She's cute though. Maybe after we help her, she can help _us_."

"Eww, I _don't_ think so," Kailan said in disgust. "You're all totally gross."

The first one growled angrily at her insult, then grabbed Kailan's arm, causing her to drop all her groceries. She frowned deeply, her anger rising to the surface. She was normally quite polite and respectful, but it didn't take much to set her off.

"This is a dangerous neighbourhood, princess," the first one snarled. "I think you should come with us. For your safety."

"Yeah, dressing like that isn't smart out here. You could attract the attention of the wrong sort of men," laughed the second one.

"Give me my food back, and leave me alone," Kailan said softly, but fiercely. "I'm losing my temper."

"Oh no! A tiny girl is losing her temper, Parma!" laughed the second one again.

"Last warning," Kailan said bluntly. "Then this tiny girl is gonna break all your legs."

"I've heard enough, Giano," the first one said. "Take her."

The second muscle-bound man charged forward and rammed a huge fist into Kailan's belly, then reeled backwards, clutching his hand and screaming in pain.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" the first one shouted angrily. "Just knock her out!"

"I think I broke my hand on her belly!" he whimpered in reply. "She's built like a steel wall!"

"Pathetic," the first one growled, pushing him over. "Fine then, you're mine, little girl!"

Kailan casually slapped him aside, knocking him face-first into a lamp post, then punched him in the thigh with a loud, sickening _crack_. As the second man watched on in horror, Kailan disappeared from sight, then reappeared in front of him and punched him in the thigh as well. Both men fell to the ground screaming, clutching their legs.

The three who'd taken her bags immediately dropped them and turned to run, but Kailan disappeared again, reappearing in their path. They came to a halt and tried to turn and run the other way, but Kailan quickly punched two of them in the thigh as well. Four of the five men were now laying on the ground screaming in agony as the fifth one ran straight across the busy street, not even bothering to dodge the traffic. Kailan disappeared again, moments before the fifth man was sent flying back onto the path, crashing into a shop wall before bouncing to the ground. She reappeared in front of him, picked him up by the throat and held him against the wall, floating up off the ground until she held him more than a metre in the air.

"Please…I get the message…you don't have to do this…I promise I'll be good from now on. I'll change my ways…please…just don't hurt me."

"You promise never to attack anyone again?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes! Absolutely! I'll never attack anyone again. Especially not a cute girl like you!"

"Well, I can tell that you're lying," she frowned. "And unlike you, I keep my promises."

"No! _NO!_ Stop, please!"

She reared back her left fist and smashed it into the man's right thigh, shattering his femur, then dropped him to the ground. He crumpled onto the concrete, screaming like the other four while Kailan picked up her groceries.

"Never try to take a Saiyan's food," she told them, then flew off at a terrific speed, leaving the five men broken and utterly defeated on the ground.

* * *

"Great!" Korzhet shouted as Kailan plonked the bags of food on the ground. "So what are we eating?"

Kailan glared at him.

"Cook it yourself, Korzhet."

"No way," he snorted. "Saiyan men don't cook. At least not the strong ones."

"I've had a bad day, okay? You went too far again at training today, and I was mugged on my way back here."

"Those poor muggers," Azuki laughed as he took off his soaking wet wristbands.

"Don't worry, Kailan," Korzhet said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, his fingertips lightly stroking her breasts. "I'll make you feel better again. I'm feeling better already."

Kailan slapped his arm away and walked off towards the bathroom.

"Cook some food, Korzhet," she said as she slammed the bathroom door.

"Hey, I was gonna have a shower first!" he protested. "Get out here!"

"_Cook the damn food!"_ she shouted back from behind the door.

"What's got into her?" Korzhet asked Azuki.

"Maybe it's because you're being a creepy asshole?" Azuki rolled his eyes as he put the groceries away.

"I'm not creepy," Korzhet argued, his arms folded. "I was just being nice."

"'Don't worry, Kailan'," Azuki mocked him, imitating his voice and the way he touched Kailan's breasts. "'I'll make you feel better again'. It's creepy, man."

"You're just jealous," Korzhet scowled.

"Of what? You?" Azuki laughed. "Besides, you should never interrupt a girl's bathroom time. Don't you know anything?"

"I worked damn hard today, I shouldn't have to cook my own food. That's _her_ job. She's the youngest, not to mention she's a girl. She should feel honoured to cook for me," Korzhet said angrily, standing over Azuki.

"Let's just get to work on this food, okay?" Azuki waved him away. "Mapo should be back soon with the fish."

"I don't see why _I_ should have to –"

"Come on, man. You were really harsh on her today," Azuki pleaded. "Then you act all creepy when she comes back with _your_ food. Can't you see it from her perspective just this once? If you really like her, then you'll help me do this for her."

Korzhet kicked a chair over, then grabbed some meat and started chopping it roughly.

"Fine, but only this once. This is so humiliating," he grumbled.

* * *

Kailan woke up early the next day, just as the sun was rising. She yawned as she stretched out her arms, then sleepily padded her way over to her wardrobe. As she opened it, she noticed that all her clothes had been messed up, and put back in the wrong places. She growled to herself, knowing that Korzhet had probably been through her clothes again. She yanked them all out of the closet and put them all back in the order she liked better.

_Yuck…that means he touched all my…I don't even wanna think about that._

She grimaced as she took a fresh pair of black tights and put them on, then wrestled with her favourite pair of tight denim shorts until she finally got them buttoned up. Suddenly the door opened and Korzhet burst in.

"Wake up, princess! We have training," he shouted impatiently, moments before Kailan screamed.

He blinked a couple of times as he noticed she hadn't put a top on yet, staring dumbly for a second or two before Kailan turned around.

"Hurry up, you're late."

"Get out, Korzhet! Haven't you ever heard of knocking?!"

"Just hurry up. I haven't got all day," he growled, but kept looking at her.

"_GET OUT!_"

She covered her chest with one hand, using the other to push Korzhet out the door and slam it behind him.

"So, Casanova," Azuki grinned at him. "Was she pleased to see you?"

"Shut up, Azuki. You know she wasn't."

"You just don't get it, do you?" he chuckled between gulps of rice.

"Get what?"

"Never mind, bro. You'll learn eventually," he grinned. "I just hope she doesn't kill you first."

"Pfft," Korzhet scoffed. "She might be a Saiyan, but she's a weakling compared to me."

"He doesn't get it," Azuki mumbled to himself as he turned back to his breakfast.

Kailan entered the kitchen a few seconds later, her outfit now completed by a tight pink crop top. Korzhet glared at her, still feeling insulted at having been kicked out of her room, then his gaze shifted down as he checked her out. Kailan grunted in irritation as she turned away and headed for the rice bowl.

"You're such a pig, Korzhet," she spat. "Where's Mapo?"

"Out fishing," Azuki told her.

"Again? I'm surprised the fish still come back here. That boy loves his fish."

Mapo was the only human in the group; Korzhet, Azuki and Kailan were all Saiyan hybrids. Korzhet and Azuki were six-foot-four and six-foot-one respectively, while Mapo stood at six-foot-six. Although he was the largest, Mapo was easily the weakest among them, and Korzhet made him aware of it constantly. Kailan liked Mapo though, and always stood up for him, which annoyed Korzhet to no end.

Azuki was the oldest, and often played mediator in the group's arguments. Unlike Korzhet and Kailan, Azuki had straight, shoulder-length blue hair, often tied into a ponytail, that grew at a normal human rate, and was often mistaken for a human. He had bold, chiselled features and combined with his mild demeanour, he was a bit of a heartthrob.

Korzhet was the complete opposite of Azuki in most ways, despite being Azuki's paternal first cousin. He was as Saiyan as they came: brutally strong, short-tempered, extremely arrogant and intolerant of weakness. He'd joined the group late, and more or less forced his way in, despite Azuki's attempts to keep him out, knowing his temperament wouldn't suit them. He didn't hesitate to hurt any of them badly if they annoyed him, and Azuki was the only one he even rarely listened to. His black hair spiked up naturally at strange angles like many Saiyans, and like Kailan's hair, it did not grow past a certain length. It was a rare phenomenon for a Saiyan's hair not to grow normally, and nobody quite understood why.

Kailan was the youngest in the group, and Korzhet was fiercely overprotective of her – to the point that he felt as though she was his property – which didn't impress Kailan at all, especially when a cute guy her own age wanted to speak to her. At just seventeen, she was five years younger than Korzhet and Mapo, and seven years younger than Azuki. Her hair was much longer than Korzhet's, and reached down past her shoulders, but still spiked out at some weird angles. Unlike Korzhet, Azuki and Mapo, who had quite large, muscly builds, Kailan had a fairly slight build to go with her barely-five-foot frame. She looked young, even for her seventeen years, but she had a lot of attitude. She was a sweet girl, and very polite, but quick to anger and like a lot of teenage girls, she liked to flirt, which often made Korzhet furious.

Korzhet and Kailan had both been slow to mature, and stayed short-statured and childlike a lot longer than Azuki had, but Kailan had just stopped growing at about twelve. She'd filled out by the time she reached sixteen, but hadn't gotten any taller, and still looked a little young. Korzhet, on the other hand, had grown almost two feet in the space of a year at the same age, and quickly became a bully.

The group had come to know each other through the various martial arts schools they'd attended over the years, as well as tournaments they'd entered. All of them had outgrown their masters now, and chose to live and train with each other in order to grow stronger. They'd only been beaten a few times between them, and mostly when they were younger. Right now, they were training for the World Martial Arts Tournament, scheduled for three years' time. The tournament ran every fourth year, and at this point in time on Earth, many of the fighters were now Saiyan hybrids, and were extremely powerful. However, it wasn't unusual to see several strong human fighters in the mix as well, which Mapo was well aware of.

The group had found a spot they liked to train at, which was at the edge of a desert and barren of almost all life. This meant they could train as hard as they wanted, and didn't have to hold back. They kept the Capsule house Mapo and Azuki had bought a safe distance away, and flew to the desert each day to train. Today, Kailan and Korzhet were fighting one another, with Mapo and Azuki training together nearby.

Kailan wondered to herself what kind of pathetic attempts at sexual harassment Korzhet would try and pull today as she began stretching. He'd gotten bad lately, and Kailan had had enough. He'd also been harsh on her to the point of cruelty, arguing that if she didn't take a good beating, she'd never get any stronger. She smiled as she promised herself that today she'd bring him down a peg or two. Korzhet was the strongest of the four fighters, and nothing pleased him more than rubbing it in the others' faces. He knew that nobody could challenge him, so his ego went almost completely unchecked. Only Azuki managed to convince him to pipe down every now and again, but none of them had ever beaten him in a fight.

_But I will today,_ she smirked. _He's so caught up in himself that he hasn't even noticed that we're all almost as strong as he is now._

"Ready for another pounding, Kailan?" Korzhet grinned. "Today we'll see if you can actually hurt me. We'll stop when you can't move anymore, and I'll get Mapo to carry you back home. You can rest up a bit before you cook."

Kailan grunted in anger as she let a small, purple energy blast loose. It took him by surprise, striking him right in the middle of his chest and sending him reeling backwards a few steps.

"That was a cheap shot," he growled.

"The enemy won't be fair either," she grinned. "You gotta be ready."

"Hey, _I'm_ the one who's supposed to be testing _you_," he scowled, then charged forward through the air and swung at her face.

Kailan ducked, sweeping his feet out as she went, then smashed him straight into the ground with a double-handed strike. He hit the ground hard, kicking up a lot of sand, but countered immediately by blasting the ground with an energy blast with both hands, catapulting himself into the air. Kailan took off after him, but was sent crashing back down to the earth straight away after receiving a blast to the belly.

She managed to level herself out barely three feet from the ground, and realised she couldn't see Korzhet anywhere. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind, trapped in a bearhug. Korzhet started laughing as he crushed her waist in his massive arms. Kailan squealed as her ribs began to bend, struggling to pry his arms away.

"Don't worry, I'll stop before I crush anything _too_ important," Korzhet sniggered. "I don't wanna kill you."

"You call that…a squeeze?" Kailan said breathlessly.

"Okay, you asked for it," Korzhet shrugged smugly, then squeezed even tighter.

Kailan screamed, kicking her legs wildly. Korzhet laughed harder as she struggled, but failed to noticed that Kailan was preparing her escape. She dipped her head forwards, then smashed it back into his face. He immediately let her go, and Kailan pounced straight away.

She flipped herself upside-down, wrapping her arms around Korzhet's waist, trapping his arms by his sides, then wrapped her upper thighs around his neck, forcing his head backwards at an angle as his chin was mashed against her butt. She then crossed her ankles and extended her legs out behind his head. Korzhet cried out in surprise, then realised quickly that she'd wrapped him up so well that he couldn't break free.

"_This_ is a squeeze," she giggled a little sadistically as she tightened her arms around his waist.

Korzhet gasped as Kailan's skinny arms crushed his torso, painfully bending his ribs. He wriggled desperately as her arms constricted him little by little, but she'd made sure he had no leverage at all. He grunted in pain and frustration as he failed to free himself. Kailan squealed in delight, savouring every moment of Korzhet's helplessness, then started squeezing her thighs together as well. Korzhet let out a cry of distress as his head began to go light, making her giggle again as he lost the ability to control his energy properly, and they both crashed to the ground.

"_URRGHH! KAILAN! _Let me _GO!_" he demanded through forcibly clenched teeth.

"Why would I do that?" she snapped. "I'm having way too much fun."

"I'll kill you when I get out of here. _You hear me?! YOU'RE DEAD!_"

"You actually think you can get out?" she laughed. "You're _mine_ now, Korzhet. _I _control your consciousness now. _I_ choose whether you _live_ or you _die_. How does _that_ sound, big guy?"

Korzhet realised she was right – he had to get out of her hold or she could do whatever she wanted to him. The sheer embarrassment of being held completely helpless by a young girl half his size, combined with the humiliation of being stuck in such a compromising place was too much for him to bear. He struggled desperately, trying to free at least one of his arms, but to no avail. Kailan had him wrapped up too securely. He then tried to kneebutt her in the head, but she was too short; his knees wouldn't reach. It was then that Korzhet really started to panic.

"Now you realise, huh?" she taunted him. "You really _can't_ get out. You're stuck with your face up my butt for the world to see, and there's absolutely _nothing_ you can do about it. Is it humiliating, Korzhet? _Is it? ANSWER ME!"_

Azuki and Mapo had flown over to see what the commotion was, and both stared drop-jawed at Kailan and Korzhet. They'd expected to see Korzhet beating Kailan half to death yet again.

"Holy crap!" Mapo blurted. "That's awesome! Yeah! Go girl! Squeeze his head right off his shoulders!"

"I see it, but I don't believe it," Azuki muttered. "He can't get out. She's got him!"

"This is too good to be true!" Mapo laughed. "I wish I had a camera with me! A framed picture of this would make a great birthday present for her."

Korzhet began making desperate moaning noises as he continued struggling in vain, making Kailan laugh sadistically at him. He roared angrily as he tried to summon the strength to break free, and when that failed too, he kept yelling desperately at the top of his lungs, refusing to admit defeat.

"Ugh, stop shouting, would you?" Kailan grunted in annoyance, but he kept going.

"I've got two ways of shutting you up myself, you know," she scowled. "Both of them are pretty embarrassing for you though. Wanna see?"

She clenched her butt cheeks, forcing his head forwards as she continued squeezing her thighs together. His whole lower face up to his top lip disappeared from view as the tight denim of her shorts completely enveloped his jaw. His eyes bulged as the pressure of her intense hold physically overwhelmed him, and his vision began to dim. Tears streamed down his cheeks and onto her tights as his consciousness narrowed, and his only instinct was a desperate struggle for survival.

"Mmmmph! _Mmmmph! MMMMPH!"_

"That's better," she grinned. "You sound a lot more pleasant when your voice is muffled by my butt. There's another way to shut you up though, and this'll be the icing on the cake. I'm gonna put you to sleep now. Nighty night, Korzhet!"

She let him writhe for a few more moments, then straightened her legs out as much as she could while squeezing her thighs together and clenching her butt at maximum pressure. She grabbed hold of her own arms behind his back and crushed his torso even tighter than she already had been, feeling and hearing several ribs break as she felt his body go completely limp. Not satisfied though, she kept squeezing his neck and face as tight as she could, long after he'd passed out.

"You can let him go now," Azuki told her. "I'm pretty sure he was unconscious a while ago."

"I know," she answered with a cute smile. "I don't care."

She kept squeezing will all her might for another twenty seconds before finally unwrapping herself, letting his head drop and hit the ground as she slid her leg out from underneath him. She spat on him, satisfied beyond words at seeing him unconscious and defeated at her feet.

_Aww, I wanted to break his jaw,_ she sulked to herself. _Oh well, I can fix that._

She smirked at her own thought, then raised her right boot, hovering it over his face. She started to second-guess herself for a moment, wondering if it was harsh enough just to squeeze him unconscious in a very embarrassing hold. She shook herself off, remembering all the brutal and demeaning treatment she'd received at his hands, then stomped down on his jaw, shattering it under her heel like a piece of glass.

"He won't forget _that_ in a hurry," she grinned.

"That was awesome!" Mapo exclaimed, rushing over. "You actually knocked him out!"

"I've been wanting to do that for a while now. Serves him right."

"He did deserve it, but you know, deep down he actually really does like you," Azuki told her. "That _was_ a bit mean."

Kailan frowned.

"What's _mean_ is him beating me to within an inch of my life every time we train, then making me shop for food and cook dinner. Not to mention constantly checking me out and touching me, and going through my things. It's creepy."

"I _did_ tell him he was being a bit creepy," Azuki nodded to himself. "Still, you didn't have to break his ribs and his jaw."

"Sure I did," Kailan snapped. "Embarrassing him wouldn't have sent a strong enough message. Why do you stick up for him anyway?"

"Yeah man," Mapo agreed. "Korzhet's an ass. I think Kailan was merciful. There are worse ways to suffer. I think he got let off easy."

"I dunno man," Azuki disagreed. "For a guy like Korzhet, I couldn't think of anything more embarrassing than that. She totally humiliated him."

"That was the whole point," Mapo countered. "She had to take the guy down a few pegs. It's not as if she permanently disabled him. All she did was squeeze him a bit…and stomp on his face. Big deal. Unfortunately for us, he'll live."

Korzhet began to stir as Mapo was talking, then he tried to sit up, but his broken ribs prevented him. He cried out in pain and confusion as he slowly came to, blood dribbling out of his mouth.

"I don't think he's had enough yet," Kailan grinned as she walked over to him.

She knelt down astride his neck, pressing her hips down on his throat. As his vision returned, he saw Kailan smiling down at him like a petulant child as he started to choke.

"What the hell happened?" he wheezed, his words slurred.

"I squeezed you," she smirked. "You passed out."

"_That's_ right, you _did!_" he growled. "Get off me, you little bitch! I'll make you _pay _for this!"

Kailan reached back and poked him in the ribs, and he cried out in pain again.

"Not with that injury, you won't," she grinned cheekily. "How did you get that? Oh right, because I _squeezed_ you!"

She emphasised her words by slamming her thighs shut against his head, causing him to scream in pain. She smiled widely as he reached up to try and pry her thighs away from his face. She spread her knees and lifted his head up, mashing his throat into her crotch, then slammed her thighs shut against his neck. She flew up into the air, lifting him by his neck, then crossed her ankles and squeezed again as he desperately tried to escape.

"_KAILAN!_" he grunted as loud as he could.

"You're right," Kailan sighed. "Squeezing you again would be a little much, especially with that broken jaw of yours. Maybe this time I'll humiliate you the traditional way."

She grinned maliciously as she opened her legs, letting him fall, then kicked him hard in the back with both feet. He grunted in pain as he flew towards the ground like a missile, making a decent-sized crater and kicking up tonnes of sand. Kailan grinned again, then flew after him, picking him up by the throat as he struggled to get to his feet.

"You _insolent_ little _bitch!_" he squeaked as she crushed his larynx.

"You need to pay," she growled. "You're _always_ treating me like trash. _Always_ beating me up like I'm your slave, making me fetch the food, making me cook for you, groping me – enough is _enough!_"

She brought up her other hand and held it up to his face, then powered up an energy blast. She let it build for a couple of seconds as Korzhet's eyes went wide with fear, then let it go, blasting him hundreds of metres across the landscape. Before he could even come to a halt, Kailan had flown around behind him, kicking him in the head as he got near, sending him sailing back the way he'd come before tumbling end over end along the ground.

Korzhet punched the ground in fury, sending shockwaves for dozens of metres around him. He painfully got to his feet again, but when he tried to sense where Kailan was, his eyes widened again as he realised she was right behind him. He spun around, aiming a fist at her face, but Kailan easily ducked it before uppercutting him in the throat. He staggered backwards, clutching his neck, then stumbled over as the pain overcame him.

Kailan sauntered over to him, standing astride his torso, then grabbed hold of his black gi and lifted him up until they were face-to-face.

"It ends here," she said softly but menacingly. "No more doing your chores. No more taking days to heal after training with you. No more touching me. _No more!_ Next time I'll just kill you, you sick freak!"

She snapped her legs shut around his torso, eliciting a pained scream from him as she squeezed tight, bending his already broken ribs, then punched him hard in the face, so hard that she lost her grip on him with her hand, and he remained suspended in the air solely by her legs. Korzhet spat blood out onto the sand, and a torrent ran down his chin as he continued gasping and grunting from the pain of her leggy squeeze around his broken ribs. She grabbed his face and straightened it so he was looking directly at her again before she continued speaking.

"We're both Saiyans. We're meant to stick together, to help each other. You've only _ever _helped yourself. If you _ever_ mistreat me again, I won't stop squeezing when you pass out. I'll keep crushing you until you're dead. You understand me? I'm _not_ your damn _slave!_ I don't belong to you!"

He tried to nod, but Kailan was holding his head still. He grunted a reluctant affirmative instead.

"This is your last chance," she told him. "If Mapo and Azuki say you can come back, then fine. But one more misstep, and that's it for you. And you can find your own way back home tonight."

She threw him aside, then powered up a two-handed energy blast. As the purple energy became larger and larger, she split it into her two hands before launching them in a spiral straight at him. It struck him in the side, and he screamed as he was carried away by it, sailing off into the distance.

"Wow," Mapo said dumbly as he landed next to her.

"Yeah, that was intense," Azuki nodded in agreement. "He's gonna be fuming when he gets back."

"Too bad for him," Kailan snapped. "He has to learn not to be a jerk, just because he's strong."

"I wouldn't worry about that," Azuki told her. "You wounded his pride pretty badly today. He's never lost to any of us before, I don't know if he's gonna be able to handle it. Especially losing to you. I never thought anyone would beat him so badly. You really kicked the shit out of him today. I don't think he even got a single hit in after you headbutted him. I think he's gonna realise that he's not unbeatable anymore."

"Just make sure you slap him down again next time he gets all nasty with you, and he'll learn," Mapo grinned. "He won't like it, but it's something he's gotta deal with, for his own good, and for yours."

"It's his own fault for being so mean to me all the time," Kailan huffed. "Come on, let's go. I can't be bothered training anymore today."

She started flying away, but Azuki called after her.

"Hey wait! What about Korzhet?"

"Forget about him," Mapo snorted. "He deserves what he got. It's about time someone kicked his ass. Let him come back alone and ashamed for once. I'm gonna cook Kailan a huge fish to celebrate, and I'm not gonna give Korzhet _any_ of it."

With that, Mapo took off after her, followed shortly afterwards by Azuki.

"Wow, fish again," Azuki said sarcastically to himself. "Must be a special occasion."

As the three of them flew off towards their capsule house, they didn't notice as someone stepped out from behind some broken ruins, having watched the entire thing. He smiled to himself and flew off after them, keeping his energy low so they wouldn't detect him.


	2. Supreme Kai Of Time

Azuki opened the door and let Mapo and Kailan through before heading in himself and closing the door behind him. They strolled into the kitchen, feeling better than they had in some time. Korzhet losing a fight had lifted a huge weight off their shoulders, as none of them really got along with him too well. Even Azuki admitted that Korzhet was an asshole, but being cousins, he felt as though he had to defend him a little. His father was quite fond of Korzhet, but Azuki knew he'd only seen the side of Korzhet that Korzhet chose to show him. Still, for his family's sake, he chose to put up with the guy as long as their goals were the same.

Korzhet had helped them out several times when other martial artists had interfered with their training and overpowered them, if only for selfish reasons. Not wanting to show any kind of weakness, Korzhet had always won these battles for the group and maintained their honour. The problem was, afterwards he would let loose on the three of them, calling them weaklings and telling them they'd be nothing without him.

It had been over a year since anyone had challenged them, and Korzhet had lost ground against them, becoming complacent and overconfident in his own abilities, and although he was still the strongest, there wasn't such a huge margin between Azuki and Kailan and himself anymore. He didn't tell anyone, but the reason he'd been so harsh with Kailan lately was because he really had to work hard to win against her now, and he didn't want her to know. So he pulverised her to show that he was still the most powerful.

All this had done was anger the three of them more, until Kailan had finally snapped and turned the tables on him. Mapo and Azuki had seen now that Korzhet wasn't unbeatable, and they felt empowered to fight him themselves. It wasn't just his pride that had been wounded – his self-appointed leadership rank within the group had been called into question now too.

Kailan grabbed a beer from the fridge, feeling like she wanted to celebrate with something a little special today. She popped the top off with her thumb and took a swig, heading into the lounge room to put some music on and sit down, and almost dropped her drink.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded.

"No need to feel threatened," the man said, his voice a distinctly gravelly one. "I'm sorry I broke in to your place, but the door was unlocked, and you took too long to get back."

"Answer me!" she shouted. "Who the hell _are_ you?"

Azuki and Mapo ran in when they heard Kailan shouting and immediately took guard when they saw the stranger in their lounge room, sitting on Korzhet's favourite chair.

"I'm a friend," the man answered.

"That's not very descriptive," Mapo frowned. "How do we know that for sure?"

"Yeah," Azuki agreed. "We come back from training and find you in our house waiting for us. A friend would knock, or call ahead."

"I'm sorry, I don't have a phone, and like I said, the door was unlocked."

"Gimme a name!" Kailan shouted, stepping towards him and powering up an energy blast. "You sure as hell picked the wrong group of people to mess with."

"Relax, there's no need for energy blasts," the man chuckled. "You guys are really highly strung, huh. Well, I'll tell you who I am, but you need to keep an open mind, alright?"

"Just spit it out already!" Mapo said in frustration.

"Alright," the man shrugged. "I'm a half-Saiyan – a _true _half-Saiyan, not a hybrid. I'm from a thousand years in the past, give or take. The name's Trunks."

"Trunks, huh," Azuki thought out loud. "That's not a Saiyan name."

"No, my mother named me. She's a human, like you," he replied, gesturing at Mapo.

"How can you tell I'm a human?" Mapo asked.

"Your energy signature is different to these two," he explained. "They're definitely Saiyans, I can feel it."

"So, 'Trunks'," Kailan interrupted, stepping closer to him, deliberately getting in his face. "You haven't explained what you're doing here in our home."

"Wow, you're a little firecracker, aren't you? You remind me of Gohan's wife Videl," Trunks laughed. "And you're strong too, I saw you fight today. You took that big guy Korzhet down pretty hard. He wasn't happy."

"You were watching us?" she said in shock. "That must mean you beat us back here, too. We were flying flat out. Who the hell _are _you?"

"I'll cut right to the chase," Trunks frowned. "You guys are in danger. The whole planet's in danger. There hasn't been a threat to Earth like this in a long, long time. No offense, but the fighters on this planet don't stand a chance."

"What threat?" Azuki asked. "I don't sense anything. And anyway, you don't even know us. How do you know we can't handle this? This planet's loaded with strong fighters."

"There's a lot of you out there, yes, and the majority of you seem to be able to control your energy, which is definitely an improvement, but compared to Earth's strongest warriors from my time, you're comparatively weak."

"I think I've heard about enough of this," Mapo fumed, stomping towards Trunks, but was stopped by Kailan.

"You'd be massacred, Mapo," Kailan told him. "Let the guy speak. If he really has come from a thousand years in the past just to tell us this, then this threat must be a real doozy."

"It is," he nodded. "I can't tell you much more about the threat specifically, other than it's strong enough to wipe out the Earth with a single attack. That sort of strength isn't uncommon in my time, but in _this_ time, it definitely is. You guys don't even know how to transform, right?"

Azuki and Kailan looked dumbly at each other, then looked back at Trunks.

"Transform?" they both asked simultaneously.

"You mean like, into a Great Ape?" Azuki asked. "All Saiyans have their tails removed at birth to prevent that transformation. Most of us can't control ourselves like that, so it's not worth the risk."

"Then the bloodlines really _have _gotten mixed up," Trunks thought out loud. "I suppose that's what happens when half the planet's Saiyan population is descended from Goku and Gohan. Uh, no," he continued. "Not the Great Ape transformation. Well, I suppose if you all can't transform, then how would you know about it?"

Azuki and Kailan looked dumbly at each other again, clearly confused.

"Wow, it's so weird that no Saiyans can transform in this time. Yet you're all so strong. I guess it's because it's so much more peaceful now than in my time," Trunks said to himself.

"I think this requires a little explanation, Trunks," Azuki told him.

"What requires an explanation?"

Korzhet entered the house, slamming the door behind him.

"Where's Kailan?!" he yelled. "I'm going to destroy her!"

He stepped into the lounge room and saw Trunks standing in front of Kailan, with Azuki and Mapo opposite. He started fuming, his face going bright red, and stomped towards Trunks, pushing Mapo and Azuki out of the way. He grabbed Kailan, attempting to pick her up and throw her through the wall, but Trunks held out his hand in front of Korzhet's face, so quickly none of them even saw him move.

"Put her down," he demanded. "Or I'll put _you _down."

"Who the hell are _you?_ I don't take orders from you, or anyone. I'm a Saiyan."

"Well, she's a Saiyan too, and you give her orders all the time," Trunks answered back. "Besides, isn't she meant to be your friend? You're not very friendly with her."

"She's _mine_," Korzhet shouted at him. "I can do with her what I _want_. I'm the strongest one here, and what I say _goes_. And I say she's mine, and you need to back the hell off before I break your arms off and beat you to death with your own fists!"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't understand you with that broken jaw," Trunks mocked him. "I think _she_ did that, didn't she? So that means _she's_ the strongest, not you."

"How _dare_ you!" Korzhet seethed, steam beginning to rise from his head. "You come into _my_ house, uninvited, then you give me orders and question my authority. You're going to pay dearly for your insult."

Kailan shook herself free, then slapped him in the face. She sidled up to Trunks and hooked her arm through his, then smiled sweetly up at him, making him blush heavily. Korzhet growled like an animal, growing even more enraged.

"It's not _your_ house, it's Mapo and Azuki's house," she said. "And you have no authority here, or anywhere. I'm not _yours_, and I never will be. Right now, I'm _his_. He's cute, and he's a lot nicer and a hell of a lot stronger than _you_, Korzhet."

Trunks blushed some more as Kailan squeezed his arm and nestled closer to him, and Korzhet looked ready to explode. Azuki stepped in front of him then, a deep frown embedded on his face.

"Sit down, Korzhet," he said. "Trunks is our guest, and he was just telling us some really important information. You'd be wise to shut up and listen."

Korzhet snarled, then turned around and sat down on his favourite chair, which was behind where Trunks was standing. Irritated, Trunks shook his head and moved off to the side so he was facing everyone again, and Kailan followed him. He blushed a little more, then politely excused himself from her before continuing. She winked at him, making him even more uncomfortable, and making Korzhet fume a little more.

"Anyway," he said, clearing his throat, "what I was saying was that I've come from a thousand years in the past to tell you that the Earth is in danger. I've seen it explode, attacked by someone with a terrible power not seen since my time. No one on this planet has the strength to combat such a threat."

"No power can stand up to mine," Korzhet said proudly. "Whatever it is, I'll kill it myself."

"You're too weak, Korzhet," Trunks snapped. "Listen to me. You'd need to transform in order to provide any kind of resistance at all. And you don't even know what transformations a Saiyan has."

"None of us can transform, we don't have our tails," Korzhet laughed. "You think I'm some sort of idiot? I'm more powerful than any Great Ape anyway."

"You really remind me of my father, you know that?" Trunks snorted. "But _before_ he became good. Completely arrogant, obsessed with yourself, totally self-entitled and utterly useless to anyone."

He frowned at Korzhet for a few seconds before he looked back at the rest of the group. Kailan grinned in satisfaction at Korzhet as he seethed. She put her hand on Trunks' chest and started to run her fingertips slowly and softly down as Korzhet watched on in fury.

"Please tell me you're single," she said to Trunks as his face looked like it was about to burn up from over-blushing. "I don't care if you're a thousand years older than me."

"Uh…well, it's uh, kinda…kinda complicated…"

"Let me help you _un_-complicate it then," she said as her hands reached dangerously low.

"Whoa!" Trunks yelped, jumping back. "Let me just finish what I was saying, okay? Wow, you're really something else, aren't you?"

"You hear that, Korzhet?" she teased. "He likes me."

Korzhet could barely stand it, and looked like he was about to get up and explode the whole house. Trunks knew what she was doing, but he'd never been all that good with women, and wasn't exactly sure how to respond to this sort of situation. He continued on, pretending as best as he could to be unfazed by Kailan's advances.

"So this threat, it's more than any of you can handle. More than anyone on this whole _planet_ can handle. There's something I need to teach you, so you can defend yourselves properly."

"_Trunks, you need to stop what you're doing right this second!"_

Kailan, Korzhet, Azuki and Mapo all looked around, wondering where the voice had come from. Trunks looked shocked.

"Supreme Kai of Time!" he said in surprise.

"_I'm bringing you all back here. You can't interfere with this timeline any more than you already have! I don't know how many times I've told you not to do this. You should know better than that!"_

"Who's she?" Mapo asked. "She sounds really cute."

"She is, but she's also quite frightening sometimes," Trunks told him.

"_I heard that! You don't know what frightening __**is**__, Trunks! You haven't even seen __**scary**__ yet!"_

"But Supreme Kai of Time, why bring us _all_ back?" Trunks asked.

"_Well, you've already gone and told them about the threat," _she answered. _"It's too late now. The least we can do is try and minimise the damage. Just grab them, would you?_"

"Okay then," he shrugged. "Everyone place your hands on my shoulders. It's just like Instant Transmission."

"Instant Transmission?" Azuki asked. "What's that?"

Trunks sighed loudly.

"I'll tell you all soon. Just put your hands on my shoulders, and we'll be on our way."

Azuki and Mapo did as they were told, and then Korzhet reluctantly did so as well. Kailan put both her hands on Trunks' butt and gave him a squeeze instead, and Trunks cried out in surprise, making her giggle as the five of them were transported through space and time, nine-hundred years into the past.

* * *

"Trunks Brief!" Supreme Kai of Time yelled angrily as she came through the Time Nest portal and into Conton City. "How dare you disobey my orders! I told you not to go, and not to mess with time without my express approval, and what do you go and do?"

"I'm sorry, Chronoa," Trunks pleaded. "But this threat…I couldn't watch the Earth get destroyed like that. I had to do _something_."

"It's not even your time!" she shouted back at him. "It's centuries and centuries after you're supposed to die! After _every one_ of the Z Fighters has died! This doesn't concern you!"

"But it's my _home_," he insisted. "These guys are Earthlings like me, and they deserve the chance to defend their planet like I did. It's only fair."

"What's with the little elf-looking girl?" Korzhet asked. "Why do you take orders from a pipsqueak like her? You're a _Saiyan_ for crying out loud!"

"Korzhet, you don't know what you're saying!" Trunks told him off. "This is the Supreme Kai of Time! She's in charge of managing all the timelines of this entire universe! She's a _god!_"

"A _god?_" he spat. "How pathetic."

"Wow, I wonder if this guy is Vegeta's ancestor by any chance?" Chronoa rolled her eyes. "He definitely has the same attitude problem."

"Vegeta?" Korzhet muttered. "Like the one from the legend?"

"Yes, the same," Trunks sighed. "He's my father."

"Then…then the legends are true?" Korzhet asked. "I demand to know! Answer me, Trunks!"

"Yes, they're true," Trunks answered. "They've probably been screwed up a fair bit over the years, but there really was a Vegeta, and he really is my father, and your ancestor, and the Prince of the Saiyans."

"Hmph," Korzhet snorted. "I bet I could take him."

Trunks glanced at Chronoa, who nodded back at him with a cheeky grin. Trunks suddenly began to power up, but massively. They could all sense it. His power level jumped ten-fold in the space of a second.

"I've never felt anything like this before!" Azuki yelled out in shock. "It's overwhelming!"

"His power…no one person can have this much power. It's not possible," Korzhet shouted.

"I'm not even close to done yet, Korzhet," Trunks told him. "Sit tight."

Suddenly the glow that surrounded his body – the aura that the group was all-too familiar with – began to change colour, exuding a golden tinge that they'd never seen before. Trunks' eyebrows began to glow, along with his hair, which was now standing up on end too, dancing in the wind created by Trunk's awesome power. Finally, his power level spiked another fifty-fold as his hair and eyebrows turned completely golden, and his eyes green. His power levelled out as he stood before them, his golden aura shining brightly. Mapo, Azuki, Kailan and Korzhet stared at him, dumbfounded, not sure exactly what they'd just witnessed.

"Come at me," Trunks goaded Korzhet. "You think you can take Vegeta? Come prove your strength against his son."

"Wait, Trunks," Chronoa interrupted, walking over to Korzhet and holding out her hand. "Take this, Korzhet. It'll heal you up."

"What is that thing?" Korzhet asked impatiently. "Some sort of bean? Why would I take a strange bean from you?"

"Because it's a Senzu bean," she explained. "They have amazing healing properties. You're gonna need healing if you wanna take on Trunks. I understand cute little Kailan here squeezed the hell out of you not long ago. That must have hurt. Take the bean."

"Fine," Korzhet huffed as he snatched the bean and ate it, then his eyes bulged in surprise as he felt his ribs and jaw healing up.

"Hey!" Kailan complained. "I worked hard to give him those injuries!"

"I know, I saw what you did to him," Chronoa winked at her. "I don't think I've seen a more embarrassing beatdown before. But don't worry, you're about to see something unlike anything you've ever witnessed. It'll be worth it."

She stepped over to Kailan and put her arm around her waist, smiling cutely up at her as she drew her closer.

"Watch," she told the young Saiyan.

Kailan blushed a little. She had a better appreciation for Chronoa's position than Korzhet did, and fully understood how important she was. She'd heard stories of the Kais from her parents when she was a little girl, but never knew there was a Supreme Kai. She felt her waist tingle a little where Chronoa's hand rested, and felt her face get hot. She resisted the urge to put her own arm around her, and watched on as Trunks goaded the freshly-healed Korzhet into attacking him.

"Alright, it's your funeral, pal," Korzhet grinned as he powered up.

Kailan could feel the difference between their power levels, and couldn't understand why Korzhet still felt the need to prove himself. Korzhet's power barely registered against Trunks'.

He charged forwards, disappearing and reappearing barely two feet away from Trunks, but bounced off again and hit the ground hard, rolling and skidding for a hundred metres before coming to a stop.

"He never even touched him," Mapo mumbled as he stared unblinking. "That's incredible."

"Yes he did," Azuki corrected him. "He put his hand out and flicked him in the chest."

Chronoa glanced over at Azuki, noting that he'd been fast enough to see Trunks' movements. She also noticed that Kailan had seen it as well.

Korzhet angrily got up and dusted himself off before charging at Trunks again. This time, Trunks toyed with him, dodging all around him as he desperately punched and kicked thin air, all the while appearing not to move at all.

"Stop using that blasted Afterimage technique and fight me properly!" Korzhet yelled angrily.

"He's not using the Afterimage," Kailan said softly to herself. "He's just so fast, Korzhet can't even track his movements, let alone actually hit him."

"Very good," Chronoa smiled at her. "You're more powerful than you realise. Good things always come in small packages, huh."

Kailan blushed some more as she looked down at Chronoa, who was a couple of inches shorter than even herself.

_She's adorable,_ she thought to herself. _What a total cutie!_

She snapped out of it, remembering that Chronoa was a Supreme Kai, and such thoughts were most likely very inappropriate, and started paying attention to Trunks once more.

"Fight me, you coward!" Korzhet shouted, becoming hysterical.

Suddenly Trunks caught Korzhet's fists. Korzhet screamed in fury, then tried to kick him, but Trunks blocked him easily, without even letting go of his fists. Korzhet then shouted in pain as he hit the ground, sliding along at an incredible pace until he hit a wall.

"That kick was so fast," Kailan said softly. "I've never seen anyone move that fast before. This is the transformation Trunks was trying to tell us about, isn't it, Supreme Kai of Time?"

"It sure is," she smiled. "This is called 'Super Saiyan'. There are two more transformations above it. Well, technically there's more than that, but that's another lesson for some time in the future. Anyway, there's a Super Saiyan Two, and a Super Saiyan Three as well."

"I can teach you how to turn Super Saiyan," Trunks said to her and Azuki, "but I think you should work out the rest on your own."

"I don't need your help!" Korzhet raged. "I can figure out this 'Super Saiyan' all by myself, and then I'll return here to defeat you!"

"Does that mean you don't wanna stick around?" Chronoa asked him.

"Not a chance!" he roared. "This is the second time today that my authority has been tested, and the second time someone has put their filthy hands on my girl! I've got important training to do, and I can't waste any more time here with you maggots!"

"But if you go now, you won't have enough time to prepare for this new threat!" Trunks countered.

"I don't care about the stinking threat!" Korzhet fumed. "I will train _myself_. I will do it _my_ way, and I will figure out this transformation all on my own. _Without any of you!_ Then I will defeat anyone who dares to challenge my power. Send me back right this –"

Korzhet disappeared, and everyone present looked at Chronoa in surprise.

"Forgive me, Chronoa, but I didn't know you could do that," Trunks laughed nervously.

"Only into points in history that aren't pivotal," she explained. "And not while I'm in the Time Vault. You need to use the scrolls there."

She turned to Kailan and winked again.

"Don't worry, I sent him to a place on the other side of the planet to your house."

"Thank you very much, Miss Supreme Kai of Time," she grinned. "That's very sweet of you."

"Please, call me Chronoa," she giggled. "You're really cute, you know that? I never thought I'd describe a Saiyan as 'cute', but you're just the most adorable little thing!"

"I thought you liked big badass men?" Trunks said in confusion. "Didn't you once say that you thought Bardock was dreamy?"

"I can like other things!" Chronoa replied, stamping her foot. "Get with the times, Trunks! Come on, Kailan. I have a history lesson to teach you."

She grabbed Kailan's hand and led her back through the Time Nest portal. Trunks shrugged, then gestured at Mapo and Azuki to follow before he went through himself.


	3. Training

"So that's the Saiyan race in a nutshell," Chronoa sighed as the three Earthlings looked up at her from their place on the pristine grass of the Time Nest. "They weren't _all_ bad, but they certainly weren't all good. It's funny, the Saiyans from Universe Six are a lot more like you guys are now."

"There's still one thing I don't get, Supreme Kai of Time," Azuki said, raising his hand as if in class. "How come some of us have hair that doesn't change? Like Kailan and Korzhet? But Saiyans like myself have normal human hair? Aren't we all Saiyan hybrids now?"

"Hmm," Chronoa thought to herself. "I'm not sure. Trunks? You have any ideas?"

"Maybe it's because of the gene pool," he surmised. "Kailan, are both of your parents Saiyan hybrids?"

"Yeah," she responded, raising an eyebrow.

"Then I'm guessing one of Azuki's parents is a Saiyan hybrid, and the other is a human."

"That's right, my father is a Saiyan, my mother is human," Azuki answered. "Korzhet's dad is my dad's brother."

"You poor boy," Chronoa shook her head. "You're actually related to that jerk?"

"He's not that bad," Azuki half-heartedly tried to defend Korzhet.

"He's an _ass_," Kailan blurted. "He's literally the worst person I've ever met."

"Okay, he's an ass," Azuki admitted. "But he's still my cousin."

"Anyway, getting back to the point," Trunks chuckled.

"If that was _my_ cousin, I'd disown him," Kailan folded her arms and half-turned away.

"_Anyway_," Trunks insisted, half laughing, "the point is, I think the reason not many Saiyans in your time have the full pure-blooded Saiyan genetics is because there aren't that many Saiyans with two Saiyan parents. It must rely on having Saiyan genes passed down from _both_ parents."

"That makes sense," Chronoa nodded. "Does that mean we're seeing the revival of an entire species of humanoid? Forty generations on from the near obliteration of the Saiyan race?"

"I think so," Trunks affirmed. "It would explain why we've got so many Saiyan Time Patrollers, too. I suppose with only two pure blooded Saiyans left, and both of them male, it's lucky that Saiyan genetics are so dominant. I'm surprised it's only taken a thousand years."

"I suppose it's not the only race I've lived to see wiped out and then revived again," Chronoa smiled. "It's good to see that they mostly turned out good like the Universe Six Saiyans. The things you see when you're seventy-five million years old."

Kailan, Azuki and Mapo's eyes bugged out and their jaws dropped.

"What?" Chronoa asked.

"Seventy-five –" Azuki started.

"– _MILLION?!_" Mapo blurted.

"I look pretty good for my age, huh," Chronoa grinned.

"I'll say," Kailan agreed vehemently.

"Kais are not mortal," came a crotchety voice from the Time Nest portal. "Our looks don't change from the time we mature, and our lives are everlasting unless forcibly taken away."

The group looked towards the portal and saw an elderly Supreme Kai slowly walking their way.

"Everyone, this is the Elder Supreme Kai," Chronoa introduced him. "The only Kai that managed to break one of those rules."

"And you've never let me hear the end of it!" he shouted angrily at her. "I'm only a thousand years older than you! You know that!"

"We've been through this before!" Chronoa yelled back. "Look at your face! You look like a handbag, Old Man!"

"I'm not an Old Man!"

"Your decrepit, wrinkly face says otherwise!"

Trunks stepped forwards while Chronoa and Elder Kai were arguing, ushering the three Earthlings together so he could whisper to them without either Kai hearing him.

"Elder Kai was trapped in the Z Sword," he explained. "Before he got trapped, a witch took one of his Potara Earrings and put it on, and they fused together. He used to look a lot younger than he does now."

"I don't understand any of that," Mapo admitted.

"I heard that!" Elder Kai stamped his feet. "It wasn't my fault! I tried to explain to her that this would happen!"

"The Potara Earrings fuse two beings together when a set is worn on opposite ears," Trunks explained, still whispering. "When one of those beings is a Kai, the fusion is permanent. Unfortunate, huh."

"Unfortunate?!" Elder Kai yelled. "If it weren't for my special powers, caused by my fusion, the universe would _not_ be the way it is today! You have my fusion to thank for that!"

"Yes, of course, Elder Kai," Trunks bowed, grinning slightly as he did so.

"Don't appease him like that!" Chronoa retorted. "I was there when that happened! He screwed up! Oh sure, he craps on about his special powers, but the only reason he got them is because _he screwed up!_"

"My 'screw up' has saved this universe countless times!" Elder Kai argued.

"Countless? What do you mean, 'countless'?" Chronoa laughed. "I can count the number of times it's saved this universe on one _finger!_ Did the fusion mess with your memory too?"

"What do you mean? There was the time that…uh…" Elder Kai thought out loud, "…and then there was…oh, and Gohan…and then…uh…"

"_Exactly!_ Only Gohan!" Chronoa grinned. "Meanwhile, I've saved the universe many more times than that, and I'm still a gorgeous, angelic girl! Deal with _that_, Old Man!"

"Please!" Elder Kai growled. "You think you're a 'gorgeous, angelic girl'?"

"I mean no disrespect, sir," Kailan spoke up. "Maybe my Earthling standards are different, but Miss Supreme Kai of Time is pretty damn gorgeous."

"_Miss Supreme Kai of Time?_" Elder Kai cackled. "Her name is Chronoa, and that's what you should call her. This 'miss' and 'supreme kai' business is totally overdoing it."

"Is that jealousy I detect?" Chronoa grinned a little wider. "What, a beautiful little mortal Saiyan girl – who wouldn't go _near_ you even if it paid well – thinks _I'm_ gorgeous, and you can't handle it?"

"Not at all! I –"

"You're _jealous!_" Chronoa snapped. "I _knew_ it!"

"I'm a _Kai!_" Elder Kai countered angrily. "I don't get 'jealous'!"

"Sure," Chronoa giggled. "Kailan, come on let's go, adorable girls like us don't need to hang around this jealous old artefact."

Chronoa grabbed Kailan's hand and led her outside through the Time Nest portal, as the rest of the group stayed behind, mostly dumbfounded by what was going on. Trunks laughed nervously as he grabbed Azuki and led him towards the portal as well.

"Come on, we have business with them, unfortunately," he explained. "Let's go."

"Hmph!" Elder Kai huffed. "Forget those ingrates! Mapo! You're getting my special treatment, now! Those guys don't know what they're missing! I'm gonna make you way more powerful than any Super Saiyan!"

"Really?!" Mapo squealed.

"Damn straight!" Elder Kai stamped his foot. "She thinks she can throw her weight around, say whatever she wants…I'll show her that _this_ Kai won't be made a fool of! I'll make you the most powerful warrior in the universe!"

Mapo rubbed his hands together in delight as he followed Elder Kai to a comfortable patch of grass and sat down facing him.

* * *

"It's more difficult than I thought," Azuki admitted after transforming into a Super Saiyan for the first time. "How long do you think it's gonna take Korzhet to do this?"

"It's different for everyone," Trunks admitted. "Sometimes it takes years and years, sometimes it's like second nature. In your timeline, my younger alternate self and Goku's youngest son Goten, they'd both learnt to transform into Super Saiyans by the time they turned seven, without any real stimulus whatsoever. My father, however, he took a little while."

Trunks had taken them to a world on the opposite side of the universe to Conton City, at Conton City's present time. The planet vaguely resembled Earth, with similar terrain for the most part, but with gravity around ten times more intense. Right now, they stood in a desert landscape with rocky outcrops, similar to where they trained on Earth.

"Miss Chronoa, she told us there were two levels above Super Saiyan," Kailan pointed out keenly. "Are those as hard as that was to get to?"

"They're all difficult," Trunks explained. "Super Saiyan Three is probably the hardest to learn, but Super Saiyan Two is hardly a walk in the park. You have to keep finding a deeper source for the power you need, it's not easy. And once you've transformed, it's not exactly an instant-win button."

"What do you mean?" Azuki asked. "Wouldn't those transformations have a similar effect on our power levels?"

"Yes, but it's not as simple as that," Trunks answered. "Super Saiyan Two and Three, they're kind of like extensions of regular Super Saiyan. You can get that kind of power as a normal Super Saiyan, it's just easier to get to if you transform. There's a trade-off though. The higher the transformation, the more energy you'll use up."

"So, what, I can only do it for a short time?" Kailan asked.

"Yes," Trunks nodded. "For example, myself, Gohan, Goten and my father, we can all transform into a Super Saiyan Three, but we choose not to because of the power drain. It wears you out really quickly. That said, Goku was able to somewhat control the power drain, so it might just take a tonne of practise."

Kailan and Azuki looked at each other, frowning as if mentally agreeing that they should discuss this further at some point in the future.

"Well, that's it from me, guys," Trunks announced. "I've done all I can for you. Supreme Kai of Time has told me I can't interfere anymore."

"But aren't we still in the past?" Kailan asked. "Isn't that still sort of cheating?"

"Sure," Trunks laughed. "I guess she just feels a little less guilty about it if I'm not quite as involved."

"So how long can we stay here?" Azuki asked.

"I'm gonna give you guys a year, and then I'm gonna start stalling, if you catch my drift," Trunks grinned.

"I understand," Azuki grinned back. "Hopefully that'll give us a head-start on Korzhet and whoever this new threat is."

"You'll do fine," Trunks saluted them casually. "I've gotta go, you guys. Good luck, alright? I dunno if I'll ever see you again, so all the best with your training. I'll be keeping an eye on you. And don't forget the Instant Transmission technique I taught you. That'll come in really handy."

"Hey, thanks for everything, man," Azuki held out his hand.

Trunks looked down at it, then grabbed it and grinned.

"You're powerful, Azuki," he said. "Whoever this threat is, you take him down for us, okay? You and Kailan both. I believe in you two."

Kailan quickly skipped up to him and gave him a hug, and then he saluted casually again as he dematerialised, vanishing into thin air as he returned to Conton City. Kailan's shoulders sunk a little.

"Hey, it's gonna be alright," Azuki assured her. "Mapo's gonna join us in a day or two, then it'll be just like old times."

"It's not that," Kailan sighed. "I'm just not sure that I should really even be here. There's so many Saiyans on Earth that are way more powerful than I am. I'm not really in the same league as guys like you and Korzhet."

"You can't honestly believe that," Azuki snorted. "You can sense power levels just as well as I can, so you know damn well that your power is right up there with ours. Besides, I saw you _beat_ Korzhet just this morning. He barely even got a hit in on you. You walloped him."

"I just got lucky," she shook her head. "I was so angry, and I managed to get him in a good hold, that's all."

Azuki laughed.

"How does being angry and putting him in a good hold have anything to do with luck?" he asked her. "You're the one who put him in the hold, you're the one who totally outclassed him. It has nothing to do with luck. I think Korzhet's started to mess with your brain or something. You've been listening to him too much. I prefer the sassy Kailan to the brooding one."

Her shoulders slumped a little more, so he gently shoved her in the shoulder.

"Kailan, you're the strongest girl I've ever met, and you're only seventeen years old. You're keeping up with guys like Korzhet and I that are years older and twice your size, and now you're a Super Saiyan too. You've got nothing to worry about. Come on, little miss Super Saiyan. Time to give this planet a workout."

Kailan smiled gratefully at Azuki, then the pair of them powered up to their new Super Saiyan forms, relishing in the awesome power it had bestowed on them. The ground crumbled beneath them, vibrating as if it were scared of them, and the pair of them grinned eagerly in anticipation of their most powerful training battle ever.

* * *

A full year passed on the unnamed planet, all the while with Trunks, Elder Kai and Chronoa watching on, unbeknownst to the two Saiyans and their human friend. Elder Kai had indeed made Mapo unbelievably powerful, unleashing potential that the big man had no idea he even possessed. With the extra training he'd had with Kailan and Azuki since then, his power had soared to heights that would easily have won him the coveted World Martial Arts Tournament, even if the Saiyans on Earth _had_ figured out how to transform into Super Saiyans. Both Kailan and Azuki had to transform and power up significantly just to keep up with him.

It was late at night, and Mapo had already gone to sleep. Kailan was outside, laying on a large rock near the capsule house Chronoa had provided them, looking up at the stars, still dressed in the training gear the Kais had given her. Azuki noticed her, and approached her, not bothering to stay quiet. They hadn't seen any sign of sentience or even wildlife since they'd been on the planet.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

"Not at all," she answered, still looking at the night sky.

He laid down next to her and looked up with her, watching as a comet soared past.

"I wanted to say something," he started. "I've been thinking about this ever since you beat Korzhet. I wanted to apologise, for defending him all the time. I know he's my cousin, and I should at least try to be understanding, but not at the expense of my friend. I let you down, time and time again. I'm sorry, Kailan."

She finally turned her head and looked at him, a sweet, grateful smile on her face. She took his hand and gave it a little squeeze.

"It's okay, Azuki," she said softly. "I always knew you cared, and I know why you defended him. You don't have to apologise. But…it _was_ very sweet of you."

"I won't let you down, ever again. I promise," he continued. "I feel like we've gotten closer in the last year, and I _want _to honour that. Korzhet might be my cousin, and deep down I know he's a decent guy, but he hasn't earnt my respect the way you have. I want us to be friends a long time, okay?"

"As long as we're still alive, we'll be friends," she smiled at him.

"Then I'm gonna make sure you stay alive as long as possible," he smiled back. "I know you don't need my help, but you've got it anyway. You've helped me so much since we got here, it's the least I can do."

"I haven't done anything special," she brushed him off humbly.

"You felt it when I powered up to that weird Ascended Saiyan form, and showed me its weakness. I would have just kept ploughing on if you hadn't."

"You weren't gonna beat anyone in that form, least of all this threat we've been warned about," she replied, turning back to the stars. "You would have figured it out pretty quick, I just didn't want you to waste the time we have here."

"Well, all the same, you proved to me that you're a better friend than I've given you credit for. And I wanted you to know that it hasn't gone unnoticed. I'm not the same guy I was a year ago."

"I know," she winked at him. "You're too hard on yourself, Azuki. You never did or said anything that ever upset me. You're an honourable guy, and the toughest person I know. And you're hot, too. It all helps."

Azuki laughed nervously, not knowing exactly how to take the complement.

"So, how do you think we'll do against Korzhet when we get back?" she asked, changing the subject.

Azuki hummed to himself as he thought about it, answering a few moments later.

"I think Korzhet will learn quickly. He's always been ridiculously tough, and his anger and determination make him able to overcome some pretty strong odds."

"I agree," Kailan replied. "You think Super Saiyan is gonna be enough?"

"I wish I knew," Azuki sighed. "Before Mapo got here, I would have said for certain that it'd be enough. But now he's got us both outmatched and suddenly we're looking for more power."

"What do you think of our chances of going beyond Super Saiyan?"

"We had a lot of help getting to Super Saiyan in the first place," he said grimly. "Without Trunks, I don't think we'd have gotten there yet. Like he said, Super Saiyan Two is as hard to reach as normal Super Saiyan."

She looked at him, frowning as she tried to ascertain hidden meaning behind his words.

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

Azuki laughed, making her wonder if he had indeed reached Super Saiyan Two without telling her. She looked across at him, and he wore a smug grin on his face. She punched him in the arm, and he laughed again.

"Well?"

"Well, he's right. It's as hard to reach as regular Super Saiyan," Azuki grinned.

"What does that mean?" Kailan blurted. "Have you reached it or not?"

"He's also right about being able to get that sort of power without transforming again."

"Ugh," Kailan grunted with a smirk, and playfully punched him in the arm again. "Fine, keep your secrets. I don't want your help anyway."

The two of them stayed looking up at the stars for a few more minutes before heading back to the capsule house and settling down for the night, blissfully unaware that the whole year had passed exactly to the day.

* * *

"Anyone home?" Trunks yelled. "Guys, aren't you up yet?"

He opened the door and let himself in, then spent a few minutes looking around. There was no sign of anyone, and all their bedroom doors were shut. He could sense Kailan's energy behind one of them, and being the polite, well-mannered man he was, didn't open the door.

"Hello?" he called as he knocked on Kailan's door. "It's Trunks. Wake up, it's time to go."

He heard movement from inside, then backed off and took a seat on one of the sofas. After a minute Kailan came out, rubbing her eyes and wearing a fluffy robe. Her hair was wild, even for her. Trunks' eyes went wide and he held back laughter, which just made her a little upset.

"I bet you look like a model when you wake up, huh," she croaked.

"Not at all," he chuckled. "Listen, I don't wanna rush you guys, but Supreme Kai of Time wants us to return to Conton City. You can take some time to get ready, but we have to go."

"What, already?" she said, waking up pretty quickly. "It hasn't even been a year yet!"

"Actually, it has," Trunks told her. "Yesterday was your last day. I'm sorry, I tried to extend your stay, but she insisted that any longer would start to have a negative impact on the flow of time. Something about creating a fixed point in history."

"Oh, bummer," she sighed. "Then I guess I'm gonna hit the shower first, before Mapo wakes up and steals it. He'll take half an hour just to wax his head."

After all three of them had freshened up and gotten changed back into their normal Earth clothes, rather than the training clothes Chronoa had given them, they gathered outside the capsule house and popped it back into its capsule again.

"It feels weird being in my regular black gi," Azuki noted. "I'm so used to those Kai clothes now."

"You should be proud to wear it," Trunks told him. "It's a sign of your dedication to your group."

"So it's back to Earth, then?" Mapo asked. "I can't wait to get a burger! It's been a long time."

"I just wanna see how strong Korzhet's gotten," Azuki grinned.

"He probably won't be any stronger," Trunks smiled back at him. "You'll be going back to the exact time you left a year ago. He'll have just gotten back himself."

"Good," Mapo said, standing proud and tall. "We don't need his help anyway."

"Don't be so sure," Trunks warned him. "Korzhet's tough. _Really_ tough. You'll need all the help you can get against whoever or whatever this threat is. I saw the Earth blow up myself, and it was a single blast that did it. I know you guys all have the power to do that now, but anyone that's willing to blow up a whole planet full of people isn't someone you should be taking lightly."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Mapo frowned. "Oh well, let's go then."

"We'll be going back to Conton City first," Trunks told them. "Supreme Kai of Time wants to speak to you all before you go back to your time. Grab on, okay?"

In a flash of light, the deserted planet was completely empty once more, and the group were travelling back to Conton City.

* * *

"Wow!" Mapo rubbed his hands together. "Did you do all this yourself?"

"I wanted to," Chronoa sulked, "but after the pudding incident with Lord Beerus, Trunks and the Old Man won't let me cook anymore."

"Trust me, it's for the best," Elder Kai told the three Earthlings. "Anything that can instantly subdue both Lord Beerus _and_ Goku really shouldn't exist."

"It wasn't _that _bad!" Chronoa argued.

"You almost killed the most powerful warrior in our universe, _as well as _the God of Destruction! Your cooking is _horrific!_"

Chronoa looked like she was about to pop, so Trunks quickly intervened.

"Come on, you guys, the food's getting cold. Let's dig in, okay?"

Chronoa, Mapo and Elder Kai watched on in horror as the three Saiyans bulldozed their way through sixty courses, barely pausing for breath.

"I guess Saiyans have always been like that, huh," Mapo gasped as he watched Trunks eat.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this," Elder Kai shook his head. "They're feral. Absolutely disgusting."

"I don't know how such a small girl can eat so much food," Chronoa noted as she watched Kailan. "She's already eaten close to her own weight in food, and she's going back for more. If I ate that much, I'd look like Majin Buu, or Ribrianne."

"It's been such a long time since I've eaten anything this good," Azuki grinned as he wiped the last remnants of sauce from his chin. "Thanks so much, Supreme Kais."

"Yeah, really," Kailan agreed as she attacked the last chicken drumstick.

"It's no problem," Chronoa laughed. "We do this for Goku, Vegeta and their sons all the time. We're kinda used to it."

"Speaking of Goku and Vegeta," Azuki said, "is there any chance we could meet them? Are they here in Conton City too?"

"Sometimes," Trunks told him. "Occasionally they stop by to help train an exceptionally gifted Time Patroller, but they're not here right now."

"Next time they're here, if everything lines up well enough, we'll see if we can get you back," Chronoa added. "But no promises, okay? I shouldn't have even brought you here _this_ time. It'll be a stretch to get you back again, but we'll see."

"Uh, we probably should get down to business," Trunks reminded her. "These guys have stuff they need to get back to."

"Right," she said, moving around so that she was facing all three of the Earthlings. "I'm sorry I couldn't let you stay any longer, but the laws of the universe simply don't permit me to let people stay outside of their own time for too long. It'll take too long to explain properly, but basically, if you stay here for too much longer, you'll belong in _this_ time. Going back to your own time again would be like time travelling into the future."

"But Supreme Kai of Time," Trunks asked, "what about when I went back to Goku's time to fight in the Cell Games? I spent way longer than a year there, and things were fine when I went back."

"That's because a large portion of that time was spent in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber," she explained. "It's a different time dimension. It doesn't really count."

"Just a thought," Elder Kai added, "but wouldn't the Hyperbolic Time Chamber still exist back on Earth in their time?"

"Unfortunately, Dende got sick of rebuilding the entrance and the accommodation every time Vegeta went in there, so it's closed off," Chronoa answered. "Otherwise I'd have had them train there instead of bringing them here. There is one thing though. Remember the Senzu bean I gave Korzhet? Well they're grown by Korin back on Earth. He lives on top of Korin Tower, below Kami's lookout. You know where that is?"

"I do," Mapo nodded. "I've never been up there, but some people make pilgrimages there. It's like a rite of passage for martial artists."

"Well Korin is the master who lives there, and he can give you some Senzu beans," Chronoa told him. "They'll definitely come in handy. His energy is kinda tricky to focus in on the first time, but you should be able to use Instant Transmission to get there once you find him. I'll let him know you're coming so he doesn't waste too much of your time with his tests."

"There's one more thing," Elder Kai said sternly. "I don't necessarily agree with Trunks interfering with your time the way he did, but he's correct in that this new threat to the Earth is extremely dangerous. The last time this sort of thing happened, Kid Buu was running around the universe blowing up planet after planet, looking for Goku and Vegeta. We can't afford for that to happen again."

"That's right," Chronoa agreed. "And before that, Frieza did it and wiped out nearly the entire Saiyan race. It would be a terrible tragedy if the Earth was destroyed again, not to mention how upset Lord Beerus would be. I'd be in a _lot _of trouble."

"I think what they're trying to say is that you need to be careful, and do your best," Trunks smiled at them. "You guys have what it takes to protect the Earth, and the rest of the universe. Now go back there and show this new threat what true power really is."

"Heh, you got it Trunks," Azuki grinned. "We'll make you guys proud, I promise."

"Are you ready?" Chronoa asked them. "It's time."

"Thanks for everything, Miss Chronoa," Kailan smiled warmly, giving her a peck on the cheek. "You too, Trunks, and Elder Kai. You've taught us so much."

"At last, some respect from the younger generation," Elder Kai laughed. "Nobody else ever remembers to thank me."

"We'll see each other again," Trunks grinned.

"I'll miss you, cutie," Chronoa winked at Kailan as she began transporting them back to their own time.

And just like that, they were gone. The only remnants of their time in Conton City were stacks of dirty dishes, the memories of Trunks and the two Supreme Kais, and a house capsule.

Chronoa sighed heavily, immediately feeling a little sad at their departure.

"What's the matter?" Trunks asked. "You're not having regrets, are you?"

"No, it's not that," she answered with another sigh. "I think I did the right thing. I just wish I'd gotten to know that girl Kailan a little better. I should have spent some more time with her. There's something about her."

"I know what you mean," Trunks nodded his agreement. "She's a special girl. She reminds me of Gohan in a way."

"She has a gift that the other two don't have," Elder Kai told them. "I can't quite put my finger on it. She doesn't even realise it herself yet, and maybe she never will. But she'll be great someday, as long as this new threat doesn't take out the whole dang planet. Also, she's got quite an amazing body."

"Dirty old man!" Chronoa barked. "She's eighteen!"

"Like you weren't thinking the same thing!" Elder Kai countered.

"_I'm_ not a lecherous old bastard like _you!_"

"So you _were_ thinking the same thing!"

"No!" Chronoa blushed. "Not at all! I –"

"Then you have no right to criticise me."

"Wrinkly, leathery old farts aren't her type!"

"And other girls _are?_"

"Face it, old man, you haven't got a chance, and I do!"

"I'm sure she'd prefer someone a little taller, like me."

"Guys, guys!" Trunks intervened, holding them apart. "None of that matters. Let's try and keep our minds focused on the job at hand, okay?"

"Yes, you're right of course. I'm a Supreme Kai, I'm better than that," Chronoa sighed. "Although –"

Suddenly Chronoa snapped to attention, sensing something, her eyes wide with shock. Tokitoki started shrieking too, and Chronoa darted off towards the Time Vault.

"What is it?" Trunks yelled after her.

"I think we've made a horrible mistake," she yelled back. "Hurry!"


	4. Return To Earth

"I don't get it," Mapo thought out loud. "Something's wrong here."

"Yeah, where are all the people?" Azuki agreed. "I can't sense pretty much anyone. There's no sign of damage though. So where are they all?"

"We're not too far from Korin Tower, right Mapo?" Kailan asked as she powered up for flight. "We can ask him."

"Right, let's go," Mapo nodded, leading the way.

The three of them reached Korin's place in ten minutes, and immediately found him looking out over the edge. He didn't seem surprised to see them.

"Welcome," he nodded. "I'm Korin. Sorry I'm not more accommodating, but things have been a little hectic around here lately."

"You're a cat?" Kailan blurted in surprise. "What the hell?"

"Greetings, Master Korin," Mapo bowed, elbowing Kailan. "We're –"

"Mapo, Azuki and Kailan. I know," he interrupted, his expression unchanging. "Supreme Kai of Time told me you were coming. I was expecting you a year ago. What the hell happened?"

"A _year_ ago?" Azuki blurted, turning to Mapo.

"That's right, you went to Conton City, correct?" he asked. "Supreme Kai of Time should have sent you back to the same time you left. Where have you three been?"

"…in Conton City?" Azuki shrugged. "I don't understand."

"Okay…" Korin sighed. "I can see you're all pretty confused, so maybe you don't know it yourselves, but you left for Conton City with Trunks a year ago today – our time. Nobody's seen you for a year."

"Then –" Mapo started.

"That's right, kiddo," Korin affirmed. "This planet's pretty much gone to hell since then. I was kinda hoping that you'd all come back and settle your people down a bit, but it looks like it's too late for that."

"Our _people?_" Kailan asked.

"Yeah – the Saiyans," Korin snorted. "You're all so battle-hungry, it's ridiculous. This planet can't take much more punishment."

"What are you_ talking_ about?" Azuki demanded. "What punishment?"

Korin pointed his cane towards the west.

"Over there," he said. "Sense anything?"

All three fighters concentrated, and all at the same time they felt incredible power coming from the exact direction Korin was pointing. They looked at each other and frowned, knowing it couldn't be good.

"But what _is_ it?" Azuki asked. "No one on Earth has that kind of power."

"Maybe a year ago," Korin explained. "But a lot's happened since then."

"What's happened, exactly?"

"Oh boy…you three better take a seat, you aren't gonna like this," Korin sighed.

The three of them sat down on the ground in front of him, and Korin began pacing back and forth. Azuki and Mapo looked worriedly at each other while Kailan frowned, trying to sense what was going on.

"Basically, your friend Korzhet came back pretty much straight away, and he was angry. _Really _angry. He started challenging pretty much every Saiyan on the planet to a fight, and won everything. Until one day, he fought a guy named Bergine, who pretty much kicked his ass."

"I don't like where this is headed," Kailan frowned a little deeper.

"You're a smart girl," he told Kailan. "Bergine was pretty surprised when Korzhet transformed into a Super Saiyan. I haven't felt that kind of power since Goku, Vegeta and their kids were around. Bergine was lucky to survive, honestly. Only reason he didn't die was 'cause he faked his own death by suppressing his power. Korzhet was too rapt in his own incredible-ness to notice he was being fooled."

"That sounds like Korzhet, alright," Azuki sighed.

"That's far from the end, Azuki," Korin frowned. "After that, Korzhet started teaching other Saiyans how to transform, so he'd have more of a challenge. Now, we've got dozens of Saiyans who can all transform into Super Saiyans, and that number is growing every day. It only takes one to destroy a whole planet. And it gets _worse_."

"How can it be worse?!" Mapo shouted. "We can't take on that many Super Saiyans at once!"

"The Earth's guardian was killed by Korzhet. He heard a rumour about him, so he went looking for him, and destroyed him when he couldn't keep up with him. I'm kinda lucky to still be here, to be honest. So now we've got no Dragon Balls either. No offense, but Saiyans can be the worst kind of scum."

"None taken," Azuki said with a raised eyebrow. "But what the hell are 'Dragon Balls'?"

Korin's eyes bugged out, then quickly returned to normal again.

_This guy's face doesn't change at all, so these Dragon Balls must be a big deal if he's surprised that we don't know about them,_ Kailan surmised.

"I don't have time to get into specifics, but basically the Dragon Balls are magic orbs that are scattered randomly around the world, and when you gather all seven you can wish for almost anything you want. But you can't now, 'cause Korzhet killed the guy who made them."

"I've heard of the Guardian of the Earth before," Kailan said. "My parents told me about him and the Kais when I was a little girl. Without him, what do we do?"

"Well, first and foremost, we need to stop Korzhet and his Super Saiyan friends," Korin explained. "That's gonna be tricky since he's taught so many of your fellow Saiyans how to transform. Even if your training with Supreme Kai of Time _did_ go really well, I doubt you could take them all on."

"Saiyans fight alone," Azuki told him. "We wouldn't be facing them all at once unless there was a lot at stake."

"Even so, Korzhet's power is pretty immense," Korin continued. "I think baldy here is the only one of you that could actually fight him head to head."

"…you can tell that?" Mapo asked, a little dumbfounded.

"Of course I can," Korin smirked. "You've got some impressive power there, sport. Especially for a straight-up human. You might have a chance. You two though…I'd avoid him if I were you. Let Mapo deal with this. You might be Saiyans, but Korzhet would eat you both alive."

Kailan clenched her fist, immediately getting angry at the prospect of Korzhet out-powering her again so soon.

_I've worked so hard, and now it's all for nothing._

"You know, it's too bad you three didn't rock up on time. This whole mess would have been dealt with pretty easily. As it stands though, we're gonna need a miracle."

Azuki turned to face west again, sensing the two enormous power levels off in the distance. He turned back to Korin with a grim look on his face.

"The larger one…that's Korzhet?"

"Mmm hmm," Korin nodded.

"How did he gain so much power?" Mapo asked in frustration. "We had the help of Trunks, Elder Kai _and_ Supreme Kai of Time, and _we _didn't gain _that_ much power."

"I think a better question would be 'what's he gonna do with all that power?'" Korin answered.

Kailan's face went white as she figured out what was going on. She turned to Azuki and Mapo as her jaw dropped.

"…and the kid's figured it out," Korin said.

"_He's_ the threat we were warned about," Kailan mumbled. "It's _Korzhet_. It's _always_ been him."

"Don't be absurd," Azuki snorted. "Korzhet's a pain in the ass, but he's hardly evil."

"You don't know much about Super Saiyans, do you," Korin said to him. "I've seen quite a few Saiyans transform for the first time, and it's not the easiest thing to control. It might be different for you guys, 'cause you had help. But Korzhet, and the other Saiyans here, they had to do it the hard way."

"What difference does _that_ make?" Azuki spat. "Korzhet's the strongest of us, he can handle it just fine, especially if us two can."

"Look, kid," Korin grumbled, "denial won't get you anywhere. I've seen Gohan and Vegeta hit Super Saiyan Two for the first time, and it made them arrogant, proud and angry. It took a long time for them to learn to control it properly. Vegeta killed a lot of innocent people when he transformed, and Gohan nearly let Cell wipe out the whole planet. For someone like Korzhet who's already proud, arrogant and angry, a transformation like that would push him way over the edge, especially if there's no one around to subdue him."

"Azuki, I know he's your cousin and you don't wanna believe it, but Korin's right," Kailan told him. "Korzhet's the threat we were warned about. Trunks saw the Earth blow up, and now Korzhet's got the power to do it. Put two and two together."

All four of them suddenly turned to the west again as one of the two power levels they'd been sensing suddenly faded dramatically. Mapo and Kailan's eyes went wide as the power completely disappeared, and they turned back to Korin.

"Korzhet won again, didn't he?" Kailan asked. "The Saiyan he was fighting…Korzhet killed him."

"Bergine," Korin told her. "He learnt to transform, so he went back to fight him again. He was no pushover either."

"We need to go, before he does anything else completely insane," Mapo frowned as he began to power up for flight.

Kailan and Azuki started powering up for flight as well, but Korin stopped them.

"Wait!" he yelled. "Take these, you'll need them. And don't worry about running out, I've got billions of the damn things. No one comes here much anymore."

He handed Azuki a small bag, full to the brim with Senzu beans. Azuki's eyes lit up.

"Wow, thanks Korin. I completely forgot about these."

"Remember, you only need one, and it'll heal you completely," he explained. "Only thing they can't do is kill a virus or regrow a limb. But normal wounds and fatigue, no problem. And by the way…Instant Transmission would be a _lot_ faster."

"How did you…" Azuki started to ask, but Korin just looked back at him with the same expression he'd worn nearly the entire time, and started to chuckle.

* * *

"It's him, isn't it," Trunks said to Chronoa, who'd collapsed on the floor of the Time Vault and was now holding her head in her hands.

"I can't be absolutely positive, but…yes, I think so," she replied softly.

"Dammit! I should have taken him out while I had the chance," Trunks berated himself.

"Don't beat yourself up, Trunks," Elder Kai told him calmly. "There's no way you could have known."

"Please," Trunks rolled his eyes. "The guy had an attitude worse than my father, and he didn't get along with any of the other three. He had 'bad guy' written all over him. I should have figured that out. I could have lied to him and kept him here, I could have done a bunch of things to stop him."

"Trunks, that time hasn't been written yet," Chronoa said even softer than before, almost whimpering. "Not completely. Any major interference would have major repercussions to go with it. Maybe that's why they arrived a year late. It might be the universe's way of balancing out the equation. All we can do is watch on and hope for the best. We have to trust that they know what they're doing."

"It's so hard!" Trunks growled. "Korzhet's far stronger than I thought. I just don't know if the others can handle it."

"They're Z Fighters now," Elder Kai replied. "The Z Fighters of the future. With their current power levels, only Mapo would have a chance against him, but if there's one thing I've learnt about Earth's defenders, it's that you should never doubt them. Azuki has a surprise, and I don't think Korzhet's going to like it."

"What about all those other Super Saiyans?" Trunks asked in a bit of a panic. "They're all following Korzhet around like he's their leader, doing whatever he says."

"Their power has blinded them," Elder Kai explained. "It's the transformation. It seems that when the transformation comes from an emotional response, it's a lot harder to handle. Kailan and Azuki learnt a different way, and they're able to keep their heads when they transform. These other Saiyans though, they're all having the same issue. But it could work against them. They won't be able to fight with the kind of clear mind that Azuki and Kailan will."

"But there's so many of them," Trunks noted, clenching a fist in anger. "I don't think they can handle that many."

"You Saiyans like to fight one at a time, right?" Elder Kai replied. "Well, Korin's given them a whole bag full of Senzu beans to boot. That should put them in pretty good stead. Plus, as I said, Azuki has a surprise. Just wait and watch, this isn't the hopeless situation you seem to think it is. Have some faith."

"Kailan…" Chronoa sighed.

"She'll be fine," Elder Kai said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I still have a feeling about that girl. I think she might end up being stronger than all of them."

"I hope so…I'll never forgive myself if she dies because of this," Chronoa replied softly, holding her hands to her chest.

* * *

Mapo, Kailan and Azuki arrived at the site of Korzhet and Bergine's fight, mere moments after Bergine had been killed. Korzhet was standing over his body, in his base form, with two other Saiyans nearby that the three of them recognised as Krotta and Opatto – two half-Saiyan hybrids like Azuki, both tall and hugely muscular, particularly Opatto who was as tall as Mapo.

_Korzhet doesn't look like he's had a rough time fighting Bergine,_ Kailan noticed. _In fact, he barely has a scratch on him. Those two creeps Krotta and Opatto haven't even had a chance to fight yet._

He turned to face the three warriors as they materialised about a hundred metres away from him. He was surprised to see them again, but the surprise took the form of a twisted grin, his head cocked at a strange angle.

"Well, well," he said to them. "Look who it is: the loser patrol. Guess you three imbeciles being dead was a bit much to hope for."

"Korzhet," Azuki frowned. "What did you do to him?"

"I killed him, of course," he grinned a little wider. "Weaklings like him don't deserve to live as Saiyans. I did the universe a favour."

"So you've turned into a monster," Mapo spat. "How predictable."

"Silence, Mapo!" he shouted angrily, his expression immediately changing. "You're beneath my contempt, human scum! You don't even get to talk to me."

He powered up, transforming into a Super Saiyan. His short, black hair turned golden along with his eyebrows, his eyes turned green, and his already muscular body bulked up significantly. Kailan's eyes went wide as she realised just how much power he really had, which made Korzhet chuckle arrogantly.

"Now you see what _real_ power looks like, huh babe," he said to her. "Don't worry, you'll get yours eventually. I still need to pay you back for what you did to me a year ago. After that, if you beg me enough, I might let you be my woman again."

Kailan dry-reached at the thought, which just made Korzhet even madder. She spat out a gob of saliva and growled at him.

"Nothing would be more humiliating or disgusting than being 'your woman'," she answered back. "I was never yours in the first place, Korzhet, and I never, ever will be. Keep dreaming, you son of a bitch."

She gestured at her body as Korzhet snarled back at her.

"This will never be yours, you sick _freak!_"

"You're making a mistake, you little whore," he said quietly, but angrily. "Nobody denies me. Least of all a pathetic little pest like you. You're only good for one thing: serving _me_."

"I'm also good for kicking your ass," she mocked him. "And I can do it again, I don't care how strong you think you've gotten. And like last time, I won't just beat you, I'll _humiliate_ you, in front of your two lady-friends as well."

"On second thought, I don't think you're even worthy of being my slave," Korzhet growled. "I'm just gonna kill you."

He was about to charge at her when Mapo blocked his path, standing over him.

"Out of the way, peasant!" Korzhet yelled, attempting to slap him aside, but Mapo caught his wrist and held him in place.

"You wanna fight Kailan, you have to go through me first," he told Korzhet. "I think you'll find I'm more than a match for a squirt like you."

"Squirt?!" he shouted, veins bulging in his neck and forehead. "I'm six-foot-four, you shiny-headed cretin! And I _don't_ fight with losers like you."

"You _will _fight me," Mapo growled. "Or you can try to get past me."

"Fine," Korzhet sniggered. "You can fight Opatto first. You get through him, and maybe I'll decide to give you a minute of my time, if it even takes that long. _Opatto! _Get up here. _NOW!_"

Opatto flew over, shaking the ground as he landed, such was his immense size. He might have been the same height as Mapo, but he was nearly twice as broadly built, and Mapo had an impressively large build himself.

_He's an ape, _Kailan huffed to herself. _Mapo will bury this idiot._

"This guy?" Mapo scoffed. "You're just wasting time."

"Prove you're not wasting _my_ time first, scum," Korzhet told him. "Now, Opatto, finish him off quickly. I want to get to the interesting part already."

Korzhet grinned slimily at Kailan, licking his lips, and making Kailan shudder in disgust. Meanwhile, Opatto stomped his way heavily towards Mapo.

"Heh, this won't take long," Opatto grinned, thumping his right fist into his left hand. "Come on, baldilocks, let's see what you've got."

"You might wanna transform first," Mapo warned him.

"Why? To fight an insect like you?" Opatto laughed, then shoved Mapo in the chest.

Mapo didn't even lose his balance. He didn't budge. He rolled his eyes, then took guard.

"What the –"

Before Opatto could even finish his sentence, Mapo had disappeared and reappeared behind him, then kicked him in the back so hard that he left a ditch in the ground where he landed and slid. The big half-Saiyan coughed up blood as he struggled back to his feet, but Mapo was already waiting for him. Opatto looked up in surprise, only to be kicked in the chin.

"Last chance to transform," Mapo told him.

"_Don't_ tell me how to _fight!_" Opatto growled, then transformed anyway.

His short black hair, which was cropped almost bald on the back and sides, flashed golden before changing completely, and his already enormous size became even larger. He powered up to his maximum, veins bulging all over his body, making him look absolutely frightening. Mapo just smirked at him.

"Let's see how you do now, human!" Opatto yelled angrily, then charged at Mapo.

Mapo deftly dodged every punch, only moving just enough to get out of the way, quickly frustrating the enormous Saiyan.

"Fight me properly, coward!"

"If you can't even hit me, then I don't see why I should," Mapo scoffed.

"You're a _dead man!_" Opatto screamed, launching a hefty haymaker at Mapo's face.

Mapo stopped dodging, letting the punch hit him, but barely took any damage. Opatto's eyes bulged as he looked at Mapo in shock.

"Seems you've improved, baldy," Korzhet smirked. "You might actually be worth fighting after all."

"What an honour," Mapo said sarcastically.

"I'm a _Super Saiyan!_" Opatto screamed. "I should be wiping the floor with this asshole!"

He let a flurry of small energy blasts fly at Mapo and charged up behind them, expecting Mapo to try and deflect them all, then attack him before he was ready, but Mapo fired his own blast at him instead. He held out his left hand and quickly and effortlessly released a powerful beam of white energy that ploughed straight through Opatto's blasts and hit him head-on. Opatto cried out in pain as the blast hit him, carrying him hundreds of feet away before he finally broke free and hit the ground, tumbling end over end several times before sliding on his back to a halt.

Opatto grunted and swore as he painfully got to his feet again, then began looking around for Mapo.

"You gotta _sense_ where I am," Mapo mocked him. "I'm way too fast for you to keep track of me."

"Stop…making…_FUN OF ME!_" Opatto raged, then started shooting small yellow energy blasts in all directions.

"That's just desperate," Mapo laughed. "That kind of thing won't get you anywhere."

Suddenly Mapo appeared right in front of him, and before Opatto's eyes could finish bulging out of his head, Mapo had already heaved a massive fist straight into Opatto's face. Opatto soared horizontally through the air like a missile, not even losing any elevation. In a couple of seconds he'd already arrived back at the spot he and Korzhet were standing in before, where Mapo was waiting to deliver a double-handed fist to Opatto's chest. Opatto hit the ground hard and bounced off of it, struggling to draw breath afterwards. Kailan and Azuki grinned at each other as Opatto coughed up blood and rolled onto his front.

Korzhet grunted, grinding his teeth together angrily as Opatto shakily got to his knees, then his feet. Mapo didn't even bother to put up a guard, he just waited patiently for Opatto to finish getting up. Eventually he did, and he was mad.

"Satisfied yet, Korzhet?" Mapo smirked. "If this is the best your men can do, then you should all just leave now. You don't have a chance."

"How _dare you!_" Opatto seethed. "I'll make you _pay _for insulting me!"

Opatto's chest heaved as he furiously powered up a massive two-handed blast. His arms were outstretched in front of him with his palms spread outwards, and a large yellow ball of energy began building in front of them. He growled loudly as the energy built up, then leapt backwards to give himself some room. He roared at top volume as he released the blast, shooting an enormous beam of yellow energy right at Mapo's chest.

Mapo caught it easily and held it back, and Opatto roared again as he pushed even harder, using every ounce of power he had to try and force it to break through Mapo's defences. To the untrained eye, it looked as though Opatto's blast had Mapo cornered.

_Mapo's just toying with him,_ Kailan noted. _The blast is strong, but Mapo's __**way**__ stronger._

Suddenly Korzhet's other follower – Krotta – appeared behind Mapo, transformed and fully powered up, and released his own big energy blast, and Mapo was forced to drop his defences. Both blasts made their way through and struck home, and Mapo took a tonne of damage. Kailan and Azuki watched on in horror as the most powerful of the three warriors went down, his black gi charred and torn and his entire torso covered in blood and tattered skin. He fell to his knees, and Krotta stepped forward and punched him hard in the back of the head. Mapo's face hit the ground hard, and he didn't move.

"That's one down," Krotta laughed. "Two more to go. It must be my turn now, let me fight the girl! She's hot stuff, I could have a lot of fun with her!"

"Imbecile!" Korzhet shouted as he appeared in front of Krotta.

He punched Krotta to the ground, then stood on his face, angrily grinding his foot down.

"Have you no honour at all? You're a _Saiyan_ for crying out loud!" Korzhet barked. "Never – interfere – in – another – man's – fight," he said, stomping on Krotta's head to emphasise his words.

"Korzhet, come on, man!" Krotta pleaded as blood spattered from his skull. "I was just doing you a favour! I'm sorry, I didn't know!"

"You're worse than useless," Korzhet growled. "And you want to take my prize away from me now too?"

His picked Krotta up by the throat, blood dripping down the left side of his face and onto Korzhet's hand. Korzhet powered up a blast and held it to Krotta's bloodied face.

"Oh man! Korzhet, I'm so sorry! Please, you can have the girl, and the human, they're all yours! Please don't kill me, man!"

"How gracious of you," he grinned. "Goodbye, Krotta."

"_WAIT! NO!"_

Korzhet blasted Krotta's face, and when the blast died down Kailan and Azuki realised quickly that he hadn't just decapitated the young half-Saiyan, he'd completely destroyed his whole head. Opatto looked on in horror as his friend's body twitched in Korzhet's grasp, before Korzhet threw it aside and blasted what remained of it to ashes.

_That was brutal_, Kailan thought to herself as she gasped. _What an absolute monster. What the hell has he become?_

Azuki rushed over to Mapo and checked him, then called Kailan over. Mapo looked pretty bad, but he wasn't in danger of dying.

"Give him one of these, but don't go too far," Azuki told her, handing her the bag of Senzu beans. "If they try anything else, I'm gonna need Mapo's help."

"What are you gonna do?" she asked as she took the unconscious Mapo and lifted him over her shoulder.

"I'm gonna fight Korzhet."

"But you can't!" Kailan yelled at him. "He's _way_ more powerful than you! You won't stand a chance!"

"I've got a surprise," he grinned at her. "You'll see."

Kailan looked on helplessly as Azuki flew off towards Opatto and Korzhet, landing in front of them both. His shoulder-length straight blue hair began to float in the air before bunching up into spikes, and eventually turning golden as he transformed.

"Well, at least you're more powerful than Krotta was," Korzhet smirked. "But you're still a way off being a challenge for me. Opatto, deal with this twerp."

"He's your cousin, right?" Opatto asked. "You have any ground rules for me?"

"Azuki has shamed my family with his mild-mannered uselessness and utter weakness. I won't tolerate it any longer. Feel free to fight him as you choose."

Azuki growled angrily and charged forwards, striking Opatto in the guts so hard that the big man returned back to his base form. He then backhanded him, sending him flying through the air into the distance and out of sight.

"Impressive," Korzhet chuckled. "But you should have killed him."

"I'm not an animal like you," Azuki grunted.

"You're entirely too forgiving to be a proper Saiyan," Korzhet frowned. "You're a disappointment, Azuki. And now I'm going to embarrass you."

"No. You're not."

Azuki began powering up even more, roaring at the top of his lungs as his long golden hair raised even higher, pointing straight up in the air now as bio-electricity began sparking all around him. Korzhet's face changed from smug to worried, and then shocked as he felt the power that Azuki was putting out.

_It just keeps getting higher and higher,_ Kailan thought. _He really __**can**__ reach Super Saiyan Two! I don't believe it!_

When he'd finally finished transforming, a crater had formed beneath him, perfectly rounded, and Korzhet had been blown back about a hundred metres. He lowered his arms, which he'd been using to shield his face from the dust and debris flying at him, and stared drop-jawed at Azuki.

"The little Kai-girl wasn't lying," Korzhet gasped. "There really _is_ a second level."

"That's right, Korzhet," Azuki spat. "Time to shut you up for good. I don't like killing people, but for you, I'll make an exception. You've gone too far, and I know what you have planned."

"You don't know _anything_," Korzhet growled angrily back at him. "I'm a _real_ warrior, far beyond your comprehension. I do what's _necessary_. And I'll find a way to defeat you. I don't care if you're a Super Saiyan Two. I can _not_ be defeated!"

"Oh really? Kailan would disagree with you," Azuki smirked, then his expression became serious again. "She showed me the truth about you, even when I didn't wanna hear it. She showed me that beating you was possible, and that strength is something you _earn_, not something you inherit. You'll never understand that. You're too much like our pure-blooded ancestors, and you'll suffer the same ignoble fate that they did."

He powered up even more, pushing his power to its limits, and making the crater beneath him even bigger as Korzhet took his guard and angrily powered up to his own maximum.

_The stage is set,_ Kailan thought. _Come on, Azuki. Show him what Saiyan power is really like._


	5. Korzhet's Revenge

Kailan laid Mapo down behind a sturdy-looking rock formation, being careful to make sure she didn't bump his head on anything. She looked around, inspecting all her sight lines to ensure Korzhet couldn't see them.

_Not that it really matters, he'll be too preoccupied by Azuki's new form to care what I'm doing anyway._

She untied the bag of Senzu beans from her belt loop and took one out, noting that there were at least two dozen left. She held it to Mapo's lips, but realised he'd probably just choke on it unless he woke up.

"Hey, Mapo," she called softly to him, slapping his face. "Wake up, man."

He twitched slightly, but didn't open his eyes. She waited a few more moments, but he was still out cold. She slapped him a few more times, then flicked his nose, but nothing worked. Sighing in frustration, she put her hand over his mouth and held his nose, and in a few seconds he woke up with a start, almost headbutting Kailan in the process.

"I don't mind if you wanna play rough, but try and make sure I'm awake for it, okay?" he complained. "Still, it's pretty awesome to wake up and see a face like yours," he winked.

"You goofball," she giggled. "Here, take this, it's a Senzu bean. I couldn't give it to you while you were passed out, and you sleep like a damn log."

"Oh, I see. Hence the smothering," he said, then crunched down on the bean.

His eyes bugged out of his head after a few seconds, then he stood up quickly, stretching and jumping.

"These things are amazing!" he cried out. "If only they could regrow hair too, I'd be totally set."

"I dunno, I think bald suits you," Kailan smiled sweetly at him. "Makes you look like more of a badass."

"You're a tease, you know that?" Mapo smirked.

"You love it," she winked. "Now come on, Azuki's about to fight Korzhet. We really should watch, this could be a great fight."

"And I might have to step in again if something goes wrong," Mapo added. "Don't lose those beans, I have a feeling we're gonna need more."

She tapped the bag, which she'd tied to the belt loop of her shorts again, then the two of them flew up to the top of the rock formation. A few hundred metres away, Korzhet had finished powering up while Azuki waited patiently.

"Korzhet's power is impressive even for a Super Saiyan, but Azuki's _way_ stronger. I've never felt power like that. It's so far off the charts, I can barely comprehend it," Mapo gasped.

"I had no idea he learned to do that transformation," Kailan agreed. "You'd think we'd have felt his power level while we were training. I just hope he can handle himself in that new form."

"I think we're about to find out."

Korzhet rushed forwards, moving so quickly Kailan almost missed it. He let loose a barrage of punches, but couldn't even get Azuki to back away. He dodged every punch as though it barely required effort. Korzhet kept up the assault for another ten seconds, occasionally throwing in a kick as he became more frustrated, then eventually fired a pair of energy blasts, all of which Azuki avoided easily.

"He didn't even hit him once," Kailan said softly. "He's amazing. I've gotta figure out how to do that transformation."

"I wish I was a Saiyan, so I could too," Mapo agreed.

Korzhet roared in anger before leaping back a hundred feet and firing an intense volley of small energy blasts at Azuki. Azuki swatted them all aside with a single hand, never moving from the spot he'd been standing in the whole time. The ground shook violently as the dozens and dozens of little blasts exploded upon contact with the ground, forming craters all over the landscape. Kailan suddenly noticed that the blasts weren't being deflected anymore, and traced Azuki's movement. Korzhet turned in surprise a split second before Azuki punched him hard in the face. Korzhet hit the ground hard and bounced off, flying for hundreds of metres until he hit a tall rock formation and was embossed into the side of it.

"How?!" Korzhet yelled. "How can you be this much stronger than me! I should be _destroying _you right now. I'm the strongest Saiyan alive! You shouldn't be able to even _touch_ me!"

"And yet you're stuck in a rock, a hundred feet off the ground," Azuki smirked lopsidedly.

Korzhet powered up, shattering the rock and descended to the ground. He held his hands out in front of him the same way Opatto had, and powered up a two-handed blast. Azuki recognised it as Korzhet's signature attack, but made no move to stop him or dodge.

"Let's see how well you do against _this!_" he roared.

Azuki smirked again, still not moving as Korzhet roared louder and louder, slowly building up the energy he required for the attack.

"That's too much power," Mapo noted, balling his fists. "If he aims badly, it'll be enough to destroy the whole planet."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Kailan replied. "Azuki won't let that happen. Plus, I don't think Korzhet's that desperate yet."

After another thirty seconds, Korzhet's blast was ready, and it was enormous.

_He's putting everything he has into that blast._

"Deflect _this_, Azuki!"

He fired the blast, and it surged forward as a massive beam of yellow energy that moved with incredible pace. Azuki stood perfectly still, putting his hands out to block it only at the last second.

"_WHAT?!_" Korzhet screamed as Azuki held the blast back seemingly easily.

"Is that all you've got, Korzhet?" Azuki mocked him.

"NO!" he yelled back in fury, then increased the size of the blast a little.

"You're using everything you've got, aren't you?" Azuki surmised. "You can't put any more power into that blast of yours without drawing on vital energy."

Korzhet growled in rage, acknowledging to himself that Azuki was right – that was all he had in the tank. Azuki snorted, then shouted in effort as he deflected the blast straight up in the air, and it harmlessly dissipated into space. Korzhet's forehead veins threatened to burst as he ground his teeth in anger. Suddenly Azuki disappeared, reappearing almost instantly right in front of Korzhet. Korzhet's eyes went wide as Azuki heaved his fist into his solar plexus. He groaned and spat as he staggered backwards, holding his torso and trying to catch his breath. Azuki disappeared once more, then reappeared next to him as he slammed his elbow into his back. Korzhet hit the ground face-first and sunk in about a foot. He tried to get up, but Azuki put his foot down on the back of Korzhet's head.

"Don't bother, you can't win," Azuki told him.

"Nobody tells me what I can and cannot _DO!_"

He powered up again, creating a crater underneath him, then escaped. He flew out behind Azuki and tried to punch him in the back of the head, but Azuki caught his wrist, making him gasp in shock.

"Blindsiding me?" Azuki spat. "You're a joke, Korzhet. That's low, even for you."

"Shut up, Azuki," he growled. "_SHUT UP AND DIE!"_

He powered up a blast with his left hand as Azuki held his right wrist, but before he could fire it, Azuki turned around, still holding his other wrist. He grabbed Korzhet's left hand and turned it around just as he was letting go of the blast. He was sent flying backwards, struck by his own attack, and slid along the ground until he hit the same rock formation as before. He breathed heavily as he sat leaning against the rock, more furious than they'd ever seen him before. He slowly stood up, and Azuki smiled as he noted his energy had dropped considerably.

_It's barely enough to stay transformed, _Kailan thought.

"That's it!" Mapo celebrated. "Azuki's won! Korzhet can't possibly beat him now."

He turned to high-five Kailan, but she continued to look down at the battlefield, a frown on her face and her arms folded across her chest.

"Come on, Kailan!" Mapo urged her, giving her right shoulder a squeeze. "This is good news! Korzhet looks like he's about to lose! You can see that, right?"

"You're wrong, Mapo," she said softly. "He's desperate now. A desperate Korzhet is a dangerous Korzhet."

"What's he gonna do?" Mapo snorted. "Desperately find some more energy to fight Azuki with?"

"Pretty much," she nodded.

"Huh?"

He turned to look down at the battlefield again, watching as Korzhet's energy began to rise. Azuki frowned, then raced forwards, realising what was going on, and trying to stop Korzhet before anything happened.

"This isn't right," Korzhet grunted. "It's all _wrong!_ _Everything _here is just _wrong!_ I'm supposed to be the _strongest! _I won't let this _pacifist_ beat me! _NO ONE CAN BEAT ME! NO ONE! UURRRRRRHHHHHH!"_

Azuki was forced to stop as a powerful shockwave struck him. Korzhet's energy exploded, soaring far above his previous limit and climbing rapidly. Azuki watched on in horror as Korzhet's hair stood up dead-straight, and bio-electricity began to crackle all around him, and still his energy kept climbing.

"I was afraid this would happen," Kailan sighed.

"You knew…you knew he'd transform again, didn't you?" Mapo said to her.

She nodded grimly.

"I had a feeling," she affirmed. "Azuki should still be able to hold his own though."

"Wait, what?" Mapo blurted. "Hold his _own?_"

"His power just shot up past Azuki's," Kailan told him. "You can sense it too, you know."

Mapo balled his fists again, then started powering up.

"You're not going anywhere," she growled, grabbing his arm. "What do you think you're gonna do?"

"Whatever I can," he answered defiantly.

"You're very noble, Mapo, but Korzhet would _flatten_ you right now. You might have been able to beat him before he transformed, but definitely not now. Besides, this is Azuki's fight. Let him deal with it how he wants."

"If we team up, we'll definitely be able to beat him though," Mapo argued. "What's with you Saiyans? You never want help. There's more at stake here than your pride."

Kailan slapped him in the face, surprising Mapo, who started getting angry.

"There's _nothing_ more important at stake _anywhere_ than our pride," she explained. "_Azuki_ is fighting Korzhet right now, _not us_. If he says he wants our help, then we'll help. Until then, we stay out of it. Got it?"

Mapo growled, wrenching his arm away.

"In case you didn't notice, I'm way stronger than you," he told her. "I'm _going_ to help Azuki, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. Stay here if you want, but I'm gonna go help my friend."

Kailan frowned deeply as Mapo turned away from her to fly down to the battlefield. She leapt up, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, trapping his arms by his sides. She tightened her grip around his neck in a choke hold, and Mapo's head quickly went very red.

"Don't make me hurt you, Mapo," she told him. "I like you, but you're being stupid right now. I _told_ you. This is _Azuki's _fight. If you fly down there now, you'll just get in the way. Azuki can take care of himself. If he wants our help, he'll tell us himself."

Mapo spluttered and coughed as Kailan gripped tighter and tighter, and eventually he relented. She let go of him a split second before he passed out, and he collapsed onto the ground, coughing some more until he regained his composure.

"I hope you're right," he said angrily to her. "If your decision costs us the planet, I'll never forgive you."

"It'll be fine," she said, turning back to the battlefield. "Just stay sharp."

Azuki's face contorted more and more as Korzhet's power continued to rise. He snapped out of it, powering up to his own maximum shortly before Korzhet finished transforming.

_It's hard to believe,_ Kailan thought, _but Korzhet's actually more powerful than Azuki now._

Korzhet grinned like a madman, his green eyes wild with sadistic pleasure as he basked in his newfound power. Azuki's gaze was fierce and determined as he stared back at Korzhet. He put up his guard, preparing for whatever Korzhet now had in store.

"You were so confident," Korzhet sniggered. "But now I too have reached the second level of Super Saiyan. Once more, I'm the strongest of us all. Now I'm going to break you, Azuki. This world, and the entire _universe_ will soon recognise me as the greatest warrior there is."

"That's pretty arrogant, even for you," Azuki spat. "You've just reached a level that I've been at for a while now, and suddenly you think you're the best? If you're so good, why don't you come and prove it."

"_GLADLY!_"

Korzhet shot forwards so quickly that Kailan and Mapo actually lost track of him. The next thing they saw was Azuki sailing off into the distance, before Korzhet somehow appeared behind him and heaved a double-handed fist down into his chest, sending him hurtling towards the Earth again. Azuki flipped as he approached the ground, landing on his feet and springing back up into the air. As he soared back up towards Korzhet, he powered up a one-handed energy blast and shot it towards him, but Korzhet deflected it easily. It was only a distraction, however, and a split second after he'd swatted it away he was punched hard in the face.

Korzhet responded quickly, sending a barrage of small energy blasts at Azuki, who was able to deflect most of them, but a few got through him, and he reeled backwards. Korzhet grinned as he disappeared and reappeared behind Azuki, pressing both hands into his back and firing a blast at point blank range. Azuki cried out in pain as he was sent flying through the air, but Korzhet disappeared yet again, appearing in his path and kicking him back the way he'd come.

Azuki sensed Korzhet's movements this time, and prepared a pair of white energy blasts, firing them at Korzhet just before he appeared in his path again. Korzhet cried out in surprise as he staggered backwards, then plummeted back towards the ground as Azuki kicked him in the back of the neck. Korzhet grinned as he slammed into the ground in a kneeling position, making the ground shake for miles around him, then disappeared once more, reappearing about fifty metres away from Azuki. They both hovered high off the ground, Azuki frowning in concentration, Korzhet wearing a twisted grin.

"So, we're almost evenly matched," he said to Azuki. "Too bad you can't win. You don't have a chance, cousin."

"Oh?" Azuki smirked back at him. "Is that a fact?"

Korzhet grinned a little wider, then held his hand up, ready to fire off another energy blast. Azuki gasped in horror as Korzhet powered up the blast, quickly making it very large.

"That's too much power!" Azuki yelled. "You'll destroy _everything!_"

"Then you better do something quickly," Korzhet laughed. "I'm almost done."

A second later he fired the enormous blast, and it screamed towards the Earth, heading straight for Mapo and Kailan. Azuki flew off after it, but he knew he wouldn't get there in time to stop it. He used Instant Transmission to teleport to Kailan's location, but Mapo had already leapt forward to try and deflect it. As the blast homed in on the three warriors, Mapo caught it with both hands, screaming in pain as the energy began to tear his body apart. He used every ounce of strength he had, only just managing to deflect it at an angle barely enough to keep gravity from forcing it to collide with the planet.

Kailan's eyes went wide as she gasped, watching on helplessly as Korzhet appeared in front of Azuki and blasted him in the chest. Azuki was launched horizontally, flying for hundreds of metres before smashing into another rock face. The surprise attack had done the trick – Azuki was out cold, utterly defeated.

Korzhet grinned sadistically at Kailan, who stood drop-jawed as he advanced on her. She grabbed hold of Mapo, trying to wake him up, but she could sense that his energy had completely vanished.

"Come on, Mapo," she cried desperately, tears streaming down her face. "You have to wake up, man. _Please _wake up!"

"Forget him," Korzhet cackled. "Now that we're alone, we can finally have some fun. Just you and me, babe. This time you won't be able to headscissor your way out of my grasp. You're all mine, and I'm going to enjoy every second of it for the rest of your short life."

"You killed him…" she sobbed. "How could you _kill him?!_ You're worse than I could ever imagine. You're _beyond_ being a monster."

Korzhet growled angrily, then backhanded her in the face. She cried out in pain, crying uncontrollably.

"You're a pathetic excuse for a Saiyan," he spat. "What happened to all that bravado you had when you beat me a year ago, huh?"

He slapped her again, then again, grunting in hatred as she took every strike. Annoyed, he slapped her over and over again as she squealed in pain, not once moving to defend herself. He grabbed her by the throat and held her in the air, tears dripping down her red, swollen cheeks and onto his hand.

"If you weren't so damn beautiful I'd have killed you by now," he said to her as he tightened his grip, crushing her throat so powerfully that she couldn't even squeak or cough.

She grabbed at his hand, feebly trying to free herself as he reared his fist back.

"I'll reteach you the submission that you used to be so good at," he grunted. "But right now, you're going to pay for humiliating me."

He punched her over and over again, breaking her jaw instantly and fracturing her cheek and eye socket. Blood poured out of her face like a faucet as she quickly began to run out of air. Korzhet screamed in anger as she quickly lost her remaining fight, and decided to swap hands so he could batter the other side of her face. As he swapped hands Kailan breathed in as much air as she could before Korzhet grabbed her with his right hand and proceeded to pummel the right side of her face. When both sides of her face were completely soaked in blood and deformed from the extreme brutality he'd dished out to her, he slammed her into the ground and heaved his fist into her belly, making her cough up an entire mouthful of blood. He grinned down at her before punching her hard in the ribs, breaking them as well.

"Now we're even," he told her. "But you're never going to be beautiful anymore. I think you might end up being pretty hideous now, thanks to me. Oh well, I guess your use to me has expired as well. Goodbye, princess."

He held his hand out and powered up a finishing blast, but Kailan put her fingers to her forehead and disappeared from sight in a flash. Confused, Korzhet looked around him, trying to figure out where she'd gone. He found her laying next to Mapo's body, reaching up to put her hand on his chest.

"So it seems you have a little energy left after all," he laughed. "Maybe I should have beaten you a little more."

Before he could power up another blast, Kailan and Mapo both disappeared. His eyes bugged out as he looked around again, but couldn't find them anywhere. He looked over towards the rock face that Azuki had slammed into and saw Kailan holding Mapo's body as she floated in front of Azuki.

"What the –" he gasped before taking off after them, but before he could reach them they disappeared yet again, and this time all three of them were gone.

"How the hell…did they do that?" he asked himself. "No matter, they couldn't have gotten too far, not with Kailan's injuries. I'll find them, then I'll finish what I started."

He powered up, then took off into the distance at incredible speed to search for them.


	6. Hyperbolic Time Chamber

"Kailan!" Korin yelled in surprise. "My word, what on Earth did he _do_ to you? You poor girl…wait here, I'll get you a Senzu bean."

He ran off quickly and returned moments later with a bean. He tried to give it to her, but her jaw was too badly broken to chew it. He crushed it in his paw instead and poured the crumbs into her mouth so she could swallow it, then did the same for Azuki. He went to give Mapo a bean as well, but stopped in his tracks.

"Oh no…" he gasped. "That monster actually killed him…what a _beast_."

Kailan started sobbing again as she got her full awareness back, then proceeded to bawl her eyes out, collapsing into Azuki's arms as emotion overwhelmed her. He softly stroked her back and held her tight as her whole body convulsed uncontrollably. Korin allowed them to grieve for a few moments, then cleared his throat to get their attention.

"I'm sorry to have to do this to you, kid," he started, "but now's not the time for this. Korzhet's new power will only continue to climb as he gets used to the Super Saiyan Two form. This guy's natural ability is phenomenal. Even though Azuki seems to be already used to Super Saiyan Two, Korzhet still managed to out-power him somehow. We need to make a move, and quickly."

"Let her cry for a moment, okay?" Azuki frowned. "She and Mapo were close, she has to deal with this."

"And while she does, Korzhet is sensing your energy and flying here as we speak. None of you will ever be able to grieve properly when you're all dead."

"It's okay, Azuki," Kailan sobbed. "He's right. We can't take the time right now. Mapo wouldn't want us to anyway. We have to do something."

"But what?" Azuki asked. "I might be able to get a lucky shot in, but I'm trying to protect the planet as well. Korzhet doesn't have a problem with blowing us all up, and that gives him the advantage. I could potentially beat him right now if you guys stay out of harm's way, but Korin's right. If his power continues to rise when he gets used to the form, I might not be able to stop him."

"Then you'll just have to find a way to get stronger than him," Korin told them.

"But how?" Azuki growled. "It took me a whole year just to figure out how to get to Super Saiyan Two. How am I meant to get significantly stronger in just a few minutes?"

"You can't," Korin answered, and Kailan swore he had what passed for a grin on his face. "It'll take you another year at least, maybe two."

"You're talking about the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, aren't you?" Kailan replied. "I heard Supreme Kai of Time talking about it once."

"She's a smart kid," Korin chuckled. "Funny to think that she's actually descended from Goku."

"But didn't Supreme Kai of Time also say that the Hyper-whatever Time Chamber was destroyed?" Azuki noted.

"Oh yeah…she did," Kailan sighed.

"Heh, you kids give up way too easily," Korin chuckled again. "Dende might have given up rebuilding the chamber door when Vegeta was still around, but after he died, that wily old Namekian eventually got around to it again. It's been in place and unused since then."

"So we can use it?!" Kailan squealed gleefully.

"Oh yes you can," Korin answered.

"Great!" Azuki pumped his fists. "So how does it work?"

"The Hyperbolic Time Chamber is a different time dimension, basically," Korin explained. "For every minute that passes out here, a little over six hours passes inside the Time Chamber. So you can spend a full year inside the Chamber, and only a day will have passed in this dimension. Pretty neat, huh."

"That's _amazing!_" Azuki exclaimed excitedly. "So can we both go in at once? We could train a lot more effectively with each other."

"Technically, you can," Korin answered. "But not today. Only Kailan can go in today."

"What? Why?" Azuki frowned. "Why can't I go in?"

"Because if we both go in, there won't be anything to stop Korzhet from getting angry and blowing us all to hell," Kailan answered. "You're the only one with the strength to hold him at bay. If you go in and I stay out, I won't be able to stop him if he finds us."

"…and the kid figures it out again," Korin chuckled once more.

"I guess that makes sense," Azuki sighed. "Fair enough. You go in, then. I'll stay here and watch for Korzhet."

"No way, kiddo, you ain't staying here," Korin protested. "I'll be toast along with the whole tower if Korzhet finds us. You're going to the lookout, and you're _going_ to suppress your energy. Korzhet probably doesn't know about this place. At least, I don't think he does. He didn't seem to notice me when he went to kill the Guardian. And I don't want him finding me because he can sense you."

"Fair enough," Azuki replied. "So it's above this place?"

"Yeah, just fly straight up, you can't miss it. Mr Popo will be waiting for you."

"Who's Mr Popo?" Kailan asked, raising her left eyebrow.

"He's the attendant to the Guardian of Earth," Korin explained. "Since there's no Guardian right now, he's in charge of the lookout. He'll be glad to help you out, and to have some company. Poor guy's been pretty lonely up there all by himself."

"Alright then," Azuki said as he turned to leave. "We better go. The sooner we get to it, the sooner we'll be ready to defeat Korzhet."

"Wait, wait, wait," Korin interrupted him. "Take some more Senzu beans with you. You'll need them in that chamber."

"Won't it have any food?" Kailan asked.

"Of course it has food," Korin blurted. "But if you want to maximise your time in there, it's better if you don't have to wait to recover from your injuries. You can eat the food provided whenever you want."

He went back inside and reappeared a minute later with an enormous bag full of beans, handing it to Kailan, who untied the bag of beans she already had from her belt loop and handed it to Azuki.

"This should last you the whole year," he said. "Now you can get going. And guys?"

"Yeah?" they both answered simultaneously.

"Good luck, okay? Give him hell. This old cat wants to stick around a lot longer. And don't worry about Mapo's body, I'll look after him while you're gone. I'll figure out a plan."

Kailan smiled sweetly at him, and Azuki saluted him informally, then they both took off for the lookout, being careful not to fly too fast and put out too much energy.

* * *

"Ah! You're finally here!" Mr Popo said excitedly as Kailan and Azuki set foot on Kami's Lookout for the first time. "It's so good to have some company. I've been looking forward to meeting you two for some time now."

"You must be Mr Popo," Kailan curtsied. "Korin told us all about you. It's a real pleasure to meet you, sir."

"Please, call me Popo," he bowed in return. "I understand you're here to train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?"

"That's right," Azuki answered sternly. "We need to get stronger so we can defeat Korzhet."

"Yes, he came here himself not long after you left, and he killed the poor Guardian of Earth before my very eyes. Such a shame that the Supreme Kai of Time couldn't return you to when you initially left," Mr Popo replied.

"You know about us going to Conton City?" Azuki asked.

"Of course he does, he's a deity like the Kais are, right?" Kailan half-stated, half-enquired.

"In a manner of speaking," Mr Popo answered. "I'm a form of deity, but I'm far from the level of a Kai or Supreme Kai. In any case, we should get moving. Korzhet hasn't been able to sense us yet, but it won't be long before he does. He _has _been here before, after all. Let me show you to the Time Chamber, and please, keep your energy suppressed."

The two Saiyans followed Mr Popo through the complex of the lookout, amazed at how big it was. Mr Popo kindly explained what all the rooms were along the way, as well as providing some historical background about the times that the past Z Fighters had been there. Before long they'd reached the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and Mr Popo stopped in front of the door.

"Here it is," he smiled warmly. "It's been a long time since anyone's used this room. I believe that last person to use it was Vegeta, your ancestor, almost a thousand years ago."

"Then you're…over a thousand years old?!" Azuki blurted.

"Oh, I'm much older than a thousand," Mr Popo laughed. "As is our mutual friend Korin. But your kindness in noting my youthfulness is appreciated."

"Whoa…" Azuki gasped. "Korin too?"

"Deities, remember?" Kailan rolled her eyes.

"Do you understand how this room works?" Mr Popo asked her. "You can only stay in there for three years at a time, then the door will disappear and you'll be trapped in forever. However, you may enter it as many times as you like. It used to be two years in total, but since the calamities faced by the Z Fighters in Goku and Vegeta's time, Dende made some changes to the room. The food will only last two people for three years – and that's taking Saiyan appetites into account. There are facilities for sleeping, washing and cooking inside, and I would be very much appreciative if you could clean the place up before you leave."

"Okay, I think I've got it," she answered, raising her left eyebrow.

"Then good luck," he smiled. "I hope your training is successful."

Kailan turned the handle, pushing the deceptively heavy door, and entered. She was immediately struck by how humid the room was. She inspected the kitchen, bathroom and beds, noting where the food was kept, and spotted a wardrobe as well.

_Damn, I should have brought a few changes of clothes with me._

She opened the wardrobe and found that there was an orange gi and blue shirt inside, as well as a blue suit of some sort that looked like it stretched to the wearer's size, and accompanying torso armour that seemed to also stretch.

_These must belong to whoever used to use the room the most,_ she deduced. _Goku and Vegeta would be my guess. Well, the orange gi won't fit me, it's far too big. But the blue bodysuit thing should be okay. Not really my style, but I guess no one can see me in here anyway. At least this way I won't ruin my own clothes._

She inspected the clothes she was wearing, and found they were covered in blood. She grunted in annoyance, silently cursing Korzhet.

_It's a good thing I didn't wear my white ones,_ she sighed as she wrestled with her tight denim shorts, _I'd never get them clean again. Oh well, guess I better wash these before I start._

She found a washing machine in the bathroom and threw her clothes in, then pulled on the blue bodysuit, finding it an incredibly snug fit.

_Wow, this thing is tight! And it feels pretty rugged too. What's it made of, anyway?_

It took her a little while to get into it fully, but she found that once she did, it fit perfectly and conformed to her shape. She turned on the washing machine, then stepped outside. She gasped in horror as she took in the infinite whiteness of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

_They call this place a __**room**__?_

She stepped out over the threshold and into the whiteness and immediately fell on her face, finding the gravity incredibly intense compared to Earth's. She got back up to her feet again and jumped around, getting her body used to it.

_It's gotta be ten times the gravity of Earth in here. That'll definitely help with my training, just like that empty planet we trained on before._

After she got used to the gravity fully, she walked out for a short distance, making sure she kept the building in her sights.

_The air…it gets denser and denser the further I go. It's hard to breathe. This place is so intense. I don't know if I'll last a whole year. At least I won't have to worry about collateral damage though. There's literally nothing here to blow up. Although, I probably should avoid aiming anything at the building. I don't wanna blow the door up and trap myself here. Oh well, better get started, I guess._

* * *

"I wonder how she's doing in there," Azuki said to Mr Popo. "Is there any way to see?"

"That would be incredibly rude," Mr Popo told him. "Even if we could, I would never allow it. But no, the Time Chamber is in another dimension, so there's no way to see into it. I'm sure she's fine though. You Saiyans are a very hardy race."

"So, you reckon she's going to get much out of it? I mean, a year isn't all that long. The last time we trained for a year, I only just managed to learn how to transform into a Super Saiyan Two and get used to it. Kailan didn't even get _that_ far."

"Well, it's all relative, I suppose," Mr Popo answered. "The first time Gohan went in with Goku, he learned to transform into a Super Saiyan _and_ a Super Saiyan Two, all within the one year. Vegeta and Trunks, however, they didn't manage to achieve the second level until years afterward."

"So you're saying she might not get any stronger?"

"No, not at all. She'll definitely become considerably more powerful than she is now. The Hyperbolic Time Chamber is not like the Earth. It's a much harsher environment; you'll see once you go in yourself. In any case, we should be concentrating on what to do about Korzhet, and how to use the dragon balls to bring back your friend."

"The dragon balls can do that?" Azuki blurted in surprise. "I didn't know they could bring a person back from the dead. But anyway, I thought they were all destroyed when the Guardian of Earth died?"

"That's true," Mr Popo explained, "but there are other dragon balls on Planet Namek. If you could somehow get yourself there, I'm sure the Namekians would be glad to help you out. They're really very lovely people."

"I don't even know what a Namekian _is_, let alone how to find their planet," Azuki whined. "And I'm not sure if my Instant Transmission will work across that kind of distance anyway."

"Oh! You've been taught to use the Instant Transmission technique?" Mr Popo asked in surprise. "I thought Goku and the Yardrats were the only people who could use that technique."

"Trunks taught Kailan and I how to do it when we were in Conton City with Supreme Kai of Time," Azuki explained.

"Goku must have taught him how to do it," Mr Popo thought out loud. "I always wondered why he never taught any of the others. Such a useful technique. Well, Goku used to be able to travel great distances using Instant Transmission. He could even travel to the World of the Kais. You could use it to travel to King Kai's planet, and he could show you where they are."

"_I'm sorry, I couldn't help overhearing you,"_ came a strange voice from seemingly nowhere and everywhere all at once. _"I've been sensing Saiyan energy coming from Earth lately, and I haven't felt that in a long, long time. If you're looking for the Namekians, I can certainly help with that. No problem."_

"Is that really you, King Kai?" Mr Popo exclaimed, a look of utter joy on his face. "I can hardly believe it. It's been so long. How _have_ you been?"

"_It's good to hear your voice too, Popo,"_ King Kai replied. _"Although I wish the circumstances were a little better. Looks like you've got evil Saiyan problems yet again, huh. I guess the apple doesn't fall that far from the tree after all, huh."_

"I'm afraid so, King Kai," Mr Popo sighed. "Although the two Saiyans with me at the lookout at present are really quite nice."

"_They must be descended from Goku, then,"_ King Kai said. _"Although I hope their manners are better than his were. Say, they don't eat like he did, do they?"_

"I'm afraid they do," Mr Popo answered. "Just now, Azuki here had me produce twenty main courses, and he still wanted more when he'd finished."

"_Then I'm glad he didn't know about me until now,"_ King Kai laughed. _"After Goku, I refuse to cook for Saiyans anymore."_

"I'm sorry to interrupt your reunion, but can you really assist us, King Kai, sir?" Azuki asked as politely as he could.

"_Ah yes, sorry kid,"_ King Kai snorted a laugh. _"I guess your situation __**is**__ kind of urgent. I can help you, sure, but on one condition. You gotta use one of the three wishes to bring me back to life. That damned Goku never came through for me on that one. I've been dead for a thousand years now! It's beyond a joke! You can't possibly understand the embarrassment of being the only dead Kai! Even Supreme Kai has started mocking me! You wish me back to life, and I won't just help you find the Namekians, I'll introduce you to them, __**and**__ as a bonus I'll throw in some training. Wait, scrap that last bit. No training. I don't need some power-crazed Saiyan destroying my planet again."_

"You can really do all that?" Azuki shouted in glee. "That's _amazing!_"

"_Yeah, I'm pretty great,"_ King Kai replied. _"It might take me a little while though, okay? I haven't contacted Planet Namek in a long time, and I have some things to do first. I'll be in touch. See ya soon, guys."_

"Thank you, King Kai," Mr Popo smiled. "We're most grateful for your help."

Suddenly they both felt a massive power approaching them at an incredible speed. Azuki's eyes went wide and he balled his fists, preparing to power up.

"Oh dear," Mr Popo lamented. "I was hoping it would take him two full days to find us here. I was also rather hoping he'd forgotten about this place, but it seems our luck has now run out."

"It's only been just under a day!" Azuki yelled. "Kailan won't have had enough time to train yet!"

"We can only hope that one year of intensive training was enough for her," Mr Popo sighed. "You should go and keep Korzhet occupied. Please do what you can to avoid him setting foot on the lookout. The last thing we need is for him to blow it up in a fit of rage."

Azuki nodded an affirmative.

"Good luck, Azuki," Mr Popo replied. "And don't try anything too reckless, all you need to do is stall him for now. I'll fetch Kailan, and we'll figure out a plan."

"Right," Azuki nodded again, then flew off towards Korzhet, trying to put as much distance between him and the lookout as he could.


	7. Azuki Is Crushed

"Well, well," Korzhet grinned darkly. "I never figured you and Kailan for cowards. You don't deserve to call yourselves Saiyans."

"Kailan wasn't fighting you, _I _was," Azuki growled, his anger rising quickly to the surface. "_You're_ the coward who attacked someone who _wasn't_ fighting you and wouldn't have a chance even if she did. You used to be honourable, Korzhet. Now you're just an animal. Kailan's always been right about you, and I refused to listen. Shame on me for thinking you could be a good man."

"You keep making excuses for your weakness," Korzhet fumed. "I killed all the other weak Saiyans who tried to stop me. They're all fools with no pride! Every one of them. They don't understand what it truly means to be a Saiyan, and neither do you. If you think your pathetic morals will save you, then you're sorely mistaken. The _strong_ find a way to survive, and the weak die along the way like the sacrificial lambs that they are. Their only purpose is to be a measuring stick for warriors like me."

"You're a hypocrite, Korzhet," Azuki frowned. "By that ruling, Kailan should have killed you a year ago. The fact that she didn't means you were able to learn about Super Saiyans and find a way to transform and get stronger. By being weak yourself, you were able to learn from your mistakes and become a more powerful fighter."

"And my revenge on her won't be complete until she lies dead and broken before me!" Korzhet roared angrily. "My humiliation at her hands…it will forever stain my honour. To allow myself to be beaten by a miniature teenage girl is beyond pathetic. The only way to cleanse myself of that disgrace is to humiliate her in return, then eliminate her slowly and painfully. My honour _must_ be restored!"

"You're a sick man, Korzhet," Azuki shook his head in disappointment. "You think her own honour wasn't stolen from her the moment you walked into her life? How do you think _she_ felt knowing that she faced beatings and sexual harassment on a daily basis, and that there was nothing she or Mapo or I could do about it because you were the strongest? You think she felt _honoured_ when her own bed sheets tore her skin off because you wouldn't stop hitting her until her whole body was covered in blood, and refused to let any of us clean her up because 'she had to learn to suffer'?

"I'm ashamed of myself, Korzhet. I should never have let you do any of the things you did. I profess to call her my close friend, and yet I let you get away with all those horrible things for such a long time. I was a coward back then, I'll admit it. But not this time. This time I don't care if I lose, I don't care if I die. All I care about…is stopping…you…from_ hurting…KAILAN!_"

Azuki powered up straight into his Super Saiyan Two form, his fury and his recovery from near death helping to propel his power level to staggering new heights. Bio-electricity crackled around him like a tesla coil, but Korzhet only grinned sadistically in response.

"You think you can stop me?" he laughed. "You've never beaten me, Azuki, and you certainly won't change that today! _UUGHHHH!_"

Korzhet transformed as well, and the air around the two fighters became charged, the clouds below and above them darkened and a lightning storm began to brew in response. The daylight had completely disappeared, the only major source of light now was the glow of their bright yellow Super Saiyan auras. The lookout was almost completely out of sight, obscured by the menacing clouds.

"Your sanctimonious trash is unbecoming of a warrior," Korzhet grinned. "I'll bury you like I did before, then I will resume my revenge on your precious weakling Kailan. By the way, how's her face?"

"You're a _bastard_, Korzhet," Azuki raged.

"Also, how _did_ you recover so quickly?" Korzhet asked, his expression changing to a confused frown. "Even with our heightened recovery speed, it should have taken you longer to recover than that. You were at death's door."

"You have a short memory, cousin," Azuki growled. "But you'll have plenty of time to remember your failure in _HELL!_"

He charged forwards, aiming a punch at Korzhet's face, but the larger man tilted his head out of the way and struck back with a knee to Azuki's belly, doubling him over. He laughed to himself, then elbowed Azuki in the back, sending him hurtling towards the Earth like a meteorite. He cackled to himself briefly, then chased after him, only to be interrupted by a white energy blast that he only narrowly avoided. Grunting in irritation, he continued his chase, but was surprised again when Azuki appeared out of nowhere and grabbed him by the neck, flying back up higher into the sky before throwing Korzhet with all his might and blasting him with a volley of little white energy attacks.

Korzhet suddenly roared in fury as he powered up, deflecting all of Azuki's energy blasts at once before disappearing and reappearing behind him. Azuki managed to block a punch to the back of his head, but was hit in the kidneys straight afterwards and cried out in pain before Korzhet grabbed him by the left arm and spun him around in a circle like a hammer throw. He let go of him once he'd built up sufficient speed, sending him flying toward the lookout. Azuki's eyes bulged as he remembered what Mr Popo had told him, and managed to slow himself down just enough to avoid doing damage to the structure. He pressed both feet down on it and it shook slightly with the force, then launched himself back towards Korzhet.

Korzhet appeared to his side as he flew at breakneck speed, kicking him in the shoulder as he flew past, sending him soaring off in another direction. Korzhet chased after him again, attempting to punch him as he approached, but Azuki grabbed his wrist, then his other wrist. Korzhet grunted in annoyance, then tried to kick Azuki, but he put up a shin to block his strike. He tried to kneebutt him repeatedly after that, but Azuki kept blocking, frustrating Korzhet to no end, until he finally gave up and headbutted him instead. Azuki cried out and held his face while Korzhet cackled loudly. Before he could recover properly, Korzhet grabbed both of Azuki's wrists and headbutted him twice more.

Blood poured from Azuki's face as Korzhet laughed, still holding his wrists, and sunk a boot into his chest. Azuki screamed in agony, making Korzhet laugh some more, then kept his foot in Azuki's chest and pulled back on his arms, threatening to rip them out of their sockets. He used his other foot and kicked Azuki repeatedly in the face, and his power level quickly began to descend.

"It's a good thing you don't care about dying, Azuki," Korzhet mocked him. "Too bad you won't be able to protect your feeble little princess."

Korzhet suddenly cried out in pain and let go of Azuki as he was hit on both sides of his hips by energy blasts. Azuki then powered up a two-handed energy blast above his head and quickly launched it at Korzhet. He took the full force of the blast and was carried away by it for a short distance before deflecting it into space.

Azuki's chest heaved as he caught his breath, holding his chest where Korzhet had kicked him. Korzhet flew back over, stopping ten metres away from him, his face wearing a deep frown as was normal for him.

_He doesn't look that tired,_ Azuki admitted to himself. _That's not good…at least his power level has dropped a little, though._

"At least your power is worthy of a Saiyan, even if your sentiments aren't," Korzhet spat. "But as you can see, my own power has become greater than yours. You don't stand a chance, Azuki."

"You talk like you're an ancient Saiyan warrior, still murdering entire populations for Frieza," Azuki growled back at him. "You make me sick. You think killing is our business? You think yours is the only way to achieve power? Mapo, Kailan and I are all stronger than the other Saiyans who follow you, and we didn't get there by murdering anyone. Your logic is as flawed as your sense of entitlement."

"Don't talk to me about entitlement, Azuki," Korzhet barked. "I've always been the strongest. I helped get you out of that many messes when I trained with you idiots. You'd be _nowhere_ without me. I _earned_ my entitlement. And I'm earning it again today, right here, right now. You're losing energy fast, cousin, and _I'm not_. Time to die!"

He disappeared and reappeared again right in Azuki's face. Azuki gasped and his eyes widened in shock as Korzhet grinned at him, then landed a series of punches and kicks, forcing him to rapidly give up ground towards the lookout.

"_YOU – HAVE – NO – CHANCE!"_ Korzhet yelled, emphasising his words with heavy blows to Azuki's face.

Azuki soared backwards, groaning in pain, then struck the side of the lookout and stuck there. He coughed up blood as he reverted back to regular Super Saiyan form, then his base form. Desperate, he took out the bag of Senzu beans and tried to eat one quickly before Korzhet arrived, but it was too late.

"I'm surprised at you," Korzhet chuckled. "I knew you had no pride, but this is low even for you. You'd actually eat one of those ridiculous beans in the middle of a fight?"

He snatched the bag off of Azuki, then grabbed him by the throat and flew up towards the top of the lookout, painfully dragging him up through the outer wall and causing the whole structure to shake a little. Azuki cried out in agony as his head was smashed through hundreds of feet of incredibly strong and dense concrete before they reached the top, where Korzhet threw him down into the top surface of the lookout, creating a small crater.

He knelt down on his chest where he'd kicked him, grinning as Azuki coughed up more blood and groaned in pain. Azuki attempted to transform into a Super Saiyan again, but the moment his hair began to change colour Korzhet heaved a fist into his face, and he reverted back to his base form again.

"You're going to have a hard time surviving this without those fancy beans of yours," Korzhet told him. "So where's your little princess friend?"

"As if I'd ever tell _you_," Azuki replied, spitting in his face.

Korzhet grunted in anger and punched him again, creating another small crater where Azuki's head hit the tiled surface of the lookout.

"I'll ask you once more, and then I'll just kill you and blow this place to hell. _WHERE – IS – KAILAN?!"_

He punched Azuki in the head to emphasise his demand, but Azuki just laughed, using the energy he had left to stoically deny Korzhet.

"I'll tell you," Mr Popo said as he came around a corner. "Follow me."

"Finally, results," Korzhet grinned evilly as he got to his feet, standing on Azuki's face as he followed Mr Popo.

Mr Popo led him through various twists and turns, deliberately taking his time, going up and down levels and turning away from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber each chance he got. He remembered to himself that Piccolo had done the same thing when leading Super Buu a thousand years ago. It didn't take long for Korzhet to lose his patience.

"This is ridiculous!" he screamed. "It can't possibly take this long. My sense of direction isn't perfect, but I know you've led me in circles, you little bastard!"

"Patience," Mr Popo replied calmly. "The room Kailan is in is a special room. If it was easy to get to, it wouldn't be worth going."

Korzhet grunted in irritation, but continued to follow. Mr Popo led him for another five minutes before Korzhet lost his cool and powered up, shaking the walls around them.

"That's _enough!_" he yelled. "You're playing games with me, aren't you? I do _not_ respond well to being tricked. Take me to Kailan _immediately_ or you die, right here and now."

"We're here," Mr Popo announced, gesturing at the door to the Time Chamber. "Kailan is inside. She's expecting you."

"Heh. Perfect," Korzhet grinned again. "I've been waiting for this moment for a year. Finally, I get to finish that pretty little runt off for good. And this time she won't be able to use those damn beans to recover."

He turned the handle and stepped inside, immediately sensing Kailan's energy.

"What?!" he cried out, but too late.

Kailan blasted him in the back, sending him flying out into the infinite white before stepping back through the door and quickly closing it behind her.

"Out of the way!" she yelled to Mr Popo.

He did as he was told and quickly moved to a safe distance, then Kailan shot a small purple energy blast from her left hand and disintegrated the door completely, leaving nothing in its place.

"So he really can't get out now?" she asked him.

"Not through the door, and that's the only proper exit," he answered.

"Are you implying there are non-proper exits he can use?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Mr Popo sighed. "Majin Buu was able to escape by ripping a hole in the dimensional wall with his voice, as was Gotenks. But both of them were vastly more powerful than Korzhet is. It is unlikely in his present state that he'd be able to escape."

"You're not filling me with confidence, Mr Popo," she admitted. "But anyway, where's Azuki? Is he hurt?"

"Come quickly!" he urged her, and they ran back out to the front of the lookout.

They found Azuki still lying in the crater, and he was unconscious. Kailan untied her own bag of Senzu beans from her belt loop and took one out, then slapped Azuki's face a few times to wake him up.

"Here, eat this," she told him, and he willingly took the bean and crunched down on it.

He sprung to his feet in a few seconds, all his wounds perfectly healed. He smiled when he saw Kailan, then gasped as he sensed her power.

"Wow, I can't believe how much your power's gone up!" he grinned widely. "Is that really you in your base form? You haven't found some level of Super Saiyan that doesn't require golden hair, have you?"

"No, this is really my base form," she smiled back at him. "It's kinda hard for me to measure the difference, 'cause it was gradual, you know? It's good to know that there's been a big change."

"Oh, it's big alright," he laughed. "How did you do it? When we trained with Mapo on that empty planet, you didn't improve nearly as much as this. Is it that room? Is it really as tough as Mr Popo says?"

She sighed, then sat on the ground in front of him.

"It's pretty tough," she explained. "The gravity is intense. It's like that planet we were on with Mapo. And the temperature…that was the hardest part. Sometimes it's so hot you feel like there's no air, and other times it's so cold your boots stick to the floor with each step. I've never experienced anything like it."

"That sounds pretty brutal," Azuki nodded. "I can't wait to go in there myself."

"Well you can't now, I just blew up the door," she shrugged. "I don't know why you wanted me to do it, Mr Popo, I could beat him easily now. Then we could still use the Time Chamber after I kill Korzhet."

"You really can't be serious," Azuki laughed. "I couldn't beat Korzhet, and I was a Super Saiyan Two. Even if your power _has_ gone up considerably, you really think it's gonna be enough to beat Korzhet? Did you even reach Super Saiyan Two in there?"

She grinned at him, then winked, and Azuki frowned in response.

"Put it this way: none of you are gonna believe it, and I can't wait to see the look on Korzhet's face."

"Well you won't have to wait very long," Mr Popo told them both. "I think he's just escaped from the Time Chamber."

"_Already?!"_ Kailan blurted. "But that's impossible!"

"Korzhet must be powerful indeed to have escaped in such a short amount of time," Mr Popo said worriedly. "Gotenks was a Super Saiyan Three when he escaped, and it took him only about half as long, if what Piccolo told me was true. For Korzhet to escape from that dimension in that time from Super Saiyan Two is really quite impressive."

"Impressive isn't the word I'd use," Azuki growled. "More like, 'disastrous'."

"You two, get to somewhere safe," Kailan told them. "I'll take care of things from here."

"And miss _this?_" Azuki laughed. "Not a chance. I wanna see if your arrogance has any truth to it, and if it does, I wanna see Korzhet get smashed."

"Just make sure he can't see you, okay?" she rolled her eyes. "He might be too busy fighting me to be sensing your energy, but if he sees you he might use you as insurance. He knows I won't want you hurt. So don't get in the way."

"She's right, Azuki," Mr Popo agreed. "If our presence here helps Korzhet in his fight with Kailan, then we're doing her a huge disservice. We must stay out of sight."

"Go to Korin's place, quickly," she told them. "Keep Mapo's body safe. If Korzhet destroys it, he won't be able to be brought back to life as easily."

"Right," Azuki nodded. "Be careful, okay? Korzhet's getting more powerful by the second. He managed to get even stronger just in the day it took him to find us."

"Go!" she yelled. "I'll be fine."

Azuki grabbed Mr Popo and flew off, and in a few seconds they'd arrived at Korin's place.

"Hey! What the hell are you two doing _here?!_" Korin shouted. "Are you _trying _to get me killed?"

"I'm sorry, Korin," Azuki apologised. "We couldn't let Korzhet see us. Kailan needs to be free of distractions when she fights him."

"Well, I suppose that's true," Korin admitted. "I heard your conversation with King Kai, too. Your plan sounds pretty solid. If we can just get Korzhet out of the way, we should be able to undo all the mess that he's caused –"

"–What the hell?!" Azuki interrupted.

Suddenly the entire tower began to shake violently.

"These Saiyans, they're never satisfied, are they? There's always more power," Korin shook his head.

"Is that _Kailan?!"_ Azuki blurted in disbelief. "It _can't_ be!"

"Yes, it's Kailan," Korin dismissed him with a wave of his paw. "I don't know why you're surprised."

"That's _unbelievable!_" Azuki gasped. "Her power…it's mind-boggling! It's…it's too much!"

"She's only just getting started, kid, so pipe down," Korin told him. "I have a feeling there's a lot more where that came from."

Kailan's power level matched Korzhet's in seconds, then continued to rise exponentially, soaring far past it. Azuki's eyes threatened to pop out of his skull as he felt it double, then triple Korzhet's power, and it still continued to rise. The tower shook more and more violently, and it felt as though it would shake free from the Earth and collapse.

"You could have told her to move a bit further away," Korin protested to Mr Popo. "At this rate, the tower, my place _and_ the lookout are gonna be history!"

Kailan's power continued to rise until it was more than four times Korzhet's already substantial power. The tower ceased shaking so violently as her power plateaued, and Korin began chuckling.

"Now _this_ should be interesting. It's been a while since I've felt _that_ kind of power."

"You mean you've felt this before?!" Azuki asked in disbelief. "This is _insane!_"

"Yeah, sure I have," Korin answered flatly. "Goku could reach this level easily, so could Gotenks."

"I'm a Super Saiyan Two as well though, and I can't generate _this_ much power."

"Who said anything about Super Saiyan Two?" Korin chuckled. "Oh boy, you're in for a treat. That pretty little friend of yours just reached a level that _dwarfs_ anything you and Korzhet can currently do."


	8. Super Saiyan 3!

Korzhet ground his teeth, veins bulging all over his body, his face red with fury as he watched Kailan transform for a third successive time. He felt as her power continued to rise and rise, not just shadowing but completely embarrassing his previous effort with Super Saiyan Two.

"This _can't_ be _happening!_" he screamed. "First Azuki, and now _you?_ How come a pathetic little princess like yourself can reach such a level, and _I CAN'T?!_"

"Because you're weak," Kailan answered bluntly, with no expression.

"You _dare _mock _me?_" he growled deeply. "You think this little trick of yours is going to save you from _me?_"

"Surely you can sense the difference between our power levels," she told him coldly.

"Power levels aren't important," Korzhet grinned, sensing a weakness. "Experience _is_. This victory will be all the sweeter for me, knowing how much more power you have."

Kailan shook her head and laughed, her now hip-length golden hair swaying behind her.

"Can you even hear yourself? You're saying _I_ don't have any experience?"

She disappeared from sight, and Korzhet lost track of her immediately. He gasped as he realised she was moving too quickly for him to trace at all. He tried to follow her movements, but Kailan was so far ahead of him it began to make him even angrier.

"_STAND STILL!_" he roared, then gasped in shock as she appeared right in front of him before he'd even finished speaking. She smirked at him with a deep frown on her eyebrow-less forehead, a look that was truly intimidating to the much larger Saiyan.

"This is Super Saiyan Three," she told him. "Impressed?"

"_CURSE YOU!_" he screamed, letting off his signature double-handed energy attack.

Kailan let it hit her at point blank range, and the energy tore the centre of her crop top slightly, burned the hems of her shorts and disintegrated her tights almost entirely, leaving only the ripped edges that poked out from her knee-high black boots.

"All that talk," Korzhet laughed, "and yet you still – no way…it _can't _be!"

His jaw dropped and he began to shake as he realised that Kailan's clothes were the only victims of his attack. Kailan herself was perfectly fine, and hadn't a scratch on her. She hadn't even been singed, or made the slightest bit dirty. Kailan grinned sadistically at him.

"Revenge time," she said softly.

Korzhet gasped again as Kailan's calves suddenly grabbed his neck, so quickly he hadn't even notice she'd moved. Before he could even figure out what was going on, he found himself plummeting towards the Earth, far faster than he could ever fly. He was travelling at such a speed that his efforts to stop himself had absolutely no effect, and he hit the ground at the same speed Kailan had thrown him.

Kailan disappeared, reappearing in the field-sized crater Korzhet had caused upon landing. She stood astride his body, then picked him up by his black gi and held him face to face with her. She grinned at him, and he ground his teeth angrily in response, trying to psyche himself up for a counter-attack. Suddenly she gestured a kiss at him, which threw him completely off-guard, and before he knew it he was buried in the ground again, headbutted by Kailan.

"_UURRRRRRRRHHHH!_" he shouted as he powered up, shattering the ground beneath him.

He floated up into the air in front of her, panting hard, his veins and muscles bulging almost comically, his face bright red with uncontrolled fury. Kailan simply smirked back at him.

"You really don't understand _who_ you're _dealing with!_" he yelled. "I can destroy this whole planet in a _second!_ You really think you can escape that? _HUH? DO YOU?!_"

Kailan kept smirking, then gestured at him to go at her.

"Let's see what you've got, little man," she taunted him.

"_FINE!_" he roared, then flew up into the air several hundred feet.

He began powering up his signature two-handed blast, condensing the energy as much as he could, and Kailan let him take his time. The energy quickly surpassed what was necessary to destroy a planet, and went far beyond that. He wasn't even halfway done, and the energy he'd amassed was more than enough to destroy a planet twice the size of Earth. Kailan just kept smirking and let him continue.

"You're just going to stand there?" Korzhet blurted angrily. "You'll make no move to stop me?! Are you _mad?!_"

"You just concentrate on putting everything you've got into this blast of yours, okay? Don't worry about me," she replied arrogantly.

* * *

"_What_ is she _doing?_" Elder Kai screeched. "That's enough energy to turn Earth's part of the solar system into rubble! She's lost the plot!"

"The Super Saiyan Three transformation has had a negative effect on her, Great Ancestor," Supreme Kai agreed. "It's like when Gohan came back to Earth after you unleashed his true potential."

"She looks like she's in control to me," Chronoa disagreed. "She knows she can deflect the blast, and if Korzhet's using up all of his energy, he won't have anything left to fight her with afterwards. That's a good thing, right?"

"It's _far_ too great a risk!" Elder Kai shouted. "If she miscalculates even the _tiniest bit_, it's game over for the Earth. This must be what Trunks saw in the scrolls. This is the moment we all feared would happen, and she's going to let it happen to satisfy her own ego!"

"I'll admit, it does look as though the desire for revenge has taken over a little," Chronoa sighed.

"I wouldn't be too worried just yet, Supreme Kai of Time," Supreme Kai told her. "It might be true that she's lost her humility and some of her control with this Super Saiyan Three transformation, but we have to remember that her power is truly tremendous as well. Just look at Korzhet. He's shaking, he's actually afraid of her."

"That's what makes him so dangerous!" Elder Kai stamped his foot.

"I must agree with our Great Ancestor, Master," Kibito weighed in. "This course of action is reckless. She should finish him off quickly, restoring peace as soon as possible. We cannot rest until this happens."

"Are you sure _you_ aren't the Supreme Kai, and _he's_ not the attendant?" Elder Kai teased Shin.

Supreme Kai laughed nervously along with Kibito before Trunks interrupted them all.

"If I may say so," he began, "this situation is slightly more serious than you've all yet realised."

"What do you mean, Trunks?" Chronoa asked in a slightly shaky voice.

"Yes, explain," Elder Kai frowned. "What have you picked up that the Supreme Kais have not?"

"This form, Super Saiyan Three, there's a reason why only Goku and Gotenks used it in the past," he explained. "I tried to warn Azuki and Kailan, but there wasn't enough time, and Supreme Kai of Time expressly forbade me from going into too much detail about the Super Saiyan transformation, fearing they'd advance too quickly."

"And what reason might that be?" Kibito asked. "Why only Goku and Gotenks?"

"Higher transformations of Super Saiyan all have a higher draw on a Saiyan's energy," Trunks told them. "Vegeta and I can both transform into Super Saiyan Threes, but we choose not to. It's possible to generate the same power in Super Saiyan Two, or even potentially regular Super Saiyan, but without the massive draw on your energy. I'm not sure Kailan's taken that into account yet."

"Yes, of course!" Shin exclaimed. "Remember during Goku's fight with Majin Buu? He couldn't recharge his own energy while in Super Saiyan Three form."

"But I thought Goku learned how to offset the drain on his energy?" Elder Kai asked. "He was able to use it without it draining his energy too much after that."

"Yes, but that took training. Training that Kailan hasn't had yet. She hasn't realised it herself yet, but she's losing energy rapidly. Not as rapidly as Korzhet, but she doesn't have this transformation under her complete control just yet," Trunks frowned.

"Oh dear," Chronoa sighed again. "That _does_ make this situation slightly worse for us. She's very powerful, especially for such a young girl…but I fear you may be right, Trunks. Without the training to control her new power, she might just lose this fight after all."

* * *

"If you really think you can best me, then you'll have no trouble with this!" Korzhet cackled. "Don't move from that spot!"

"I won't," Kailan grinned.

"Fine!" Korzhet roared. "You really believe your own arrogance? You think I'm some helpless child before you? _I'm_ the most powerful Saiyan in the _universe!_ _NOT YOU!_ I will _not_ be humbled by a five-foot teenage princess like you! Witness the power of a _true _Saiyan!"

"Stop wasting time. Fire the damn blast, already," Kailan yelled back impatiently.

"You asked for it…_UUUUURRRHHHH!_"

Korzhet unleashed the blast, and it was truly enormous, and condensed so much that the air crackled around it, emitting thousands of tiny jolts of electricity similar to the bio-electricity both Kailan and Korzhet exhibited. Kailan knew as well as Korzhet that the blast was sufficient to blow up the Earth in an instant, as well as any other planet that happened to be in its path. Korzhet's rage had multiplied his power by one-and-a-half times, and emitting it all at once in a single blast was a show of force not seen on Earth since Kid Buu had destroyed the planet a thousand years earlier.

Kailan waited for the blast to come closer, then began powering up her own double-handed energy attack. She held her hands out in front of herself, pointing outward like Korzhet's had been, and a small, purple ball of energy began to form in her hands. It suddenly doubled in size, and she split it into two hands held outward and above her head. Those twin blasts then doubled again, and again.

"_DOUBLE HELIX!_" she yelled, and fired the two blasts in a spiral, straight towards Korzhet's enormous blast.

Kailan's Double Helix struck Korzhet's attack and quickly pushed it back at him. Korzhet's eyes went wide with horror as he watched it scatter his blast, sending it flying into space in all directions as it powered through and headed right for him. He knew it was too late to dodge it, and he didn't have enough energy left to move fast enough anyway. He gritted his teeth and put his hands out to catch the blast, but the purple energy burned through him like lava, forcing his hands out of the way and smashing into his chest.

Korzhet screamed in pain as the blast instantly destroyed the top half of his gi and scorched his torso. It took everything he had left just to keep it from punching a massive hole right through him. He fell to the ground like a used satellite, making an enormous crater, then reverted to his base form. He would have passed out, but his rage kept him conscious, even though the pain threatened to overwhelm him.

Kailan landed astride his chest, grinning down at him as he cried out in pain.

"Eat a Senzu bean," she told him.

"What?!" he asked in shock.

"Do it, now, before I change my mind," she frowned.

"What kind of trickery is _this?_"

She grunted in anger, then knelt down and punched him hard in the face. He spat out a mouthful of blood and groaned, then returned his angry gaze to her.

"I can easily make it so you can't eat them anymore," she warned him. "One more punch, one _flick_ to your jaw, and you won't be able to chew the bean."

"You _mock_ me," he growled. "Even now, you still _mock me!_"

She slapped her palm into his neck, making him cough and splutter, then grabbed it and lifted him off the ground, floating into the air.

"I'm _not done with you yet!_" she screamed. "Eat the bean, Korzhet. _DO IT NOW!_ I want you to suffer all over again."

"And if I refuse?" he asked defiantly.

"Then I'll be disappointed," she spat. "But you still die, either way. You want another chance at making me 'your girl'? This is it. Take it or leave it, you son of a bitch."

"Fine, but I won't be made a fool of, Kailan," Korzhet growled as he took the bag of Senzu beans out and ate one.

He slapped her hand away from his neck and powered back up, transforming into a Super Saiyan Two. Kailan noted that his power had gone up a little due to his recovery.

_But it's still not enough, not even close._

Korzhet grinned, and Kailan guessed that he'd noticed his power increase as well. He disappeared and reappeared behind her, wrapping his muscly arms around her arms and waist and started squeezing.

"This didn't work when my power was lower than yours," she snorted. "You think it's gonna work now?"

"You're missing the point, bitch," Korzhet grinned.

Kailan realised what he was doing, then started laughing.

"You really think I'm gonna let you blow yourself up? You think you're getting off _that_ easy?"

She powered up, then broke her arms free of the hold as Korzhet floated in place with his jaw dropped in disbelief. She quickly fired off two small purple energy blasts at him, so quickly he barely had time to look down. They exploded on contact, making him cry out in pain again, but before the smoke had even settled, Kailan was all over him.

She landed on his shoulders as the bewildered Korzhet looked up at her in shock, then began hammering her fists into his face. Blood splattered out of his mouth, nose and cheeks as Kailan heaved punch after punch into him.

"Look, you're getting blood all over my legs and my shorts," she complained. "It's disgusting. Look how pathetic you are. I don't think you really understand just how hopeless your situation really is."

"How…" he muttered. "How did you improve so much in such a short amount of time? It's not possible…I should be destroying you. _I_ should be the pinnacle of Saiyan potential, not an unworthy little pipsqueak like you."

"Telling yourself how great you think you are doesn't make you a great fighter," Kailan growled at him. "Anyway, it's time I got the revenge I was so looking forward to."

"Over my dead body!" Korzhet growled as he grabbed hold of her thighs, trying to push her off.

"That's the plan," she grinned down at him.

Korzhet's face went red instantly as she began to squeeze her knees together, and he desperately clawed at her thighs, trying to dislodge her before she completed the hold.

"Let me know if this feels familiar to you," she laughed. "I don't wanna get any more of your blood on my clothes, you see. Guess that means more humiliation for you, huh."

Korzhet roared with effort as he tried to pry her thighs apart, but Kailan just crossed her ankles and straightened her legs out, completing the hold and making Korzhet panic wildly. She squeezed him tight, and he quickly began to fade towards unconsciousness. He moaned desperately as her thighs dug deeper and deeper into the sides of his neck, while Kailan grinned down at him, savouring every moment and every new contortion of his face. As Kailan's tight squeeze prevented blood from flowing to his brain, Korzhet gradually began to lose the ability to control his energy. He powered down to regular Super Saiyan, then back to his base form.

"You know the best part about this?" she teased. "Even better than watching your little head go purple, even better than watching you struggle. It's knowing that I'm barely even squeezing you, and you _still_ don't have a chance. Too bad there isn't a crowd here to see this. How embarrassing for you. What did you call me again? A 'pipsqueak'? A 'five-foot teenage princess'?"

She laughed at Korzhet as he failed to even speak. Her thighs clamped his jaw tightly shut, and he couldn't utter more than a desperate moan. She brought her hand up to his face and fired a few small energy blasts at him as she continued squeezing, then snapped her legs back a few times, kicking him in the back with her heels before continuing to squeeze. Korzhet did his best to cry out in pain, but all that came out was a groan.

Becoming totally desperate, he started weakly punching her in the thighs, but she kept laughing at him, not bothering to stop him. Instead, she reached down and grabbed the Senzu beans from his belt, then dangled them in his face. He grunted in anger as he reached up to try and grab them, but each time he did, she pumped a short squeeze that brought tears to his eyes.

"I think I should take these back now," she said to him, counting them as she tipped the remaining beans into her hand. "Hmm, only two left, huh? You must have eaten them all in the Time Chamber. I bet that's how you escaped, right? You kept wearing yourself out and healing over and over again until you finally broke through. Well, since you don't know where to get them from, and I _do_, I guess there's only one way to make sure this doesn't work against me."

She threw the bag into the air, then blasted it into dust. Korzhet grunted in anger, but couldn't do anything about it. He dangled underneath Kailan helplessly, held afloat off the ground solely by her leggy grip around his neck.

"There we go," she giggled. "Now it's time to finish you off for good. Nighty night, Korzhet. You won't wake up this time. And sorry in advance if I accidentally make your head go 'pop'."

Korzhet's eyes bulged out of his eye sockets as Kailan squeezed ten times tighter than she had been up until then. He tried to pry her thighs apart again, but his hands never even reached them before he was squeezed out cold.

"Well, _that_ felt pretty good," she smiled to herself as she looked down at Korzhet's unconscious face sticking out from between her thighs.

_Maybe I should let him wake up, then do it again? I could keep doing it over and over again, it'd be absolute torture for him._

She thought to herself for a moment as she continued squeezing his neck, letting his limp body dangle beneath her.

_Nah, I think I should just kill him. I need to find some new clothes. These ones are kinda shredded. Then I need to go tell Korin, Popo and Azuki the good news._

She somersaulted backwards, releasing her grip on Korzhet at the last moment and flinging him to the ground. He crashed to the Earth and made another enormous crater, and Kailan casually floated back down to finish him off.

Suddenly she felt her hair retract and her eyebrows grow back as she went back to Super Saiyan Two, then regular Super Saiyan, then her base form.

"What the hell?" she asked herself. "Where's all my power gone? My energy…"

Korzhet was still snoring in the crater, and hadn't moved other than to twitch uncontrollably. Kailan sighed in relief.

_If he wakes up now, he'll tear me apart. I don't have the energy to defend against him anymore. I don't think I could even sustain Super Saiyan Two at this point. I don't understand what happened._

Suddenly she realised that she'd been emitting an intense aura the entire time she'd been transformed.

_While I was in the Time Chamber, I thought it was the only way to regulate the enormous power of the form. Otherwise it kinda built up so much that it started to hurt. But maybe it's just a shortcut…a shortcut that has a horrible consequence. Why did I blow up the Senzu beans? You MORON, Kailan! I've been such a fool! I messed up, and didn't even give myself an out!_

Furious with herself, she stomped the ground, making a small crater. Korzhet began to stir, and Kailan's eyes went wide with fear.

_Think, think, THINK! I need to do something. When he wakes up, he's gonna be mad. REALLY mad._

Panicking, she quickly rushed over to him and punched him as many times as she could before he woke up, then powered up an energy blast.

_No! If I do that, I might not have enough energy to get away!_

She withdrew the blast, leapt off of him and scanned for Azuki's energy. She couldn't find him, and she couldn't sense Korin or Mr Popo either. Panicking some more, she looked over towards where she thought Korin's Tower was, and noticed she couldn't see it anymore.

_Damn, I must have lost my bearings during the fight._

She took a quick guess at where she thought it'd be and used Instant Transmission to teleport there. She arrived closer than she thought she would, and could see the tower. Relieved, she used Instant Transmission again and arrived at Korin's place on top of the tower, to the worried faces of Korin, Mr Popo and Azuki.


	9. King Kai's Plan

"What happened out there?" Azuki asked. "How come I can still sense Korzhet's energy?"

"I made a mistake," Kailan admitted, dipping her head in shame.

"A mistake?" Azuki blurted. "But your power…it was huge! How could you have lost?"

"She didn't lose," Korin told him. "She ran out of energy."

Kailan lowered her head even more.

"I don't understand," Azuki said, raising an eyebrow.

"_She wasted too much time,"_ King Kai explained, much to their bewilderment. _"She had the chance to finish him off multiple times, but chose to torture Korzhet instead."_

"Is that true?" Azuki asked her.

Kailan nodded her head sadly, still looking down at her feet.

"_Well, moping about it isn't gonna help,"_ King Kai admonished her. _"You made a mistake, now learn from it and move on. You're very lucky that you at least beat him up pretty good before you left, but it won't last forever. When he recovers, he'll be stronger than ever, and he'll be pissed. He's gonna come looking for you, and if he doesn't find you straight away, he's just as likely to start blowing things up. Things like the population of Earth, for example."_

"Then you have to take a Senzu bean, quick!" Azuki shouted. "Korin, can't you go get her one?"

"Don't tell me what to do, kid," Korin answered, clearly irritated by Azuki's demand. "Don't you think I'd have gotten her one already if I had any more?"

"But you said you had, and I quote, 'billions'!" Azuki yelled back.

"I was using hyperbole!" Korin shouted back at him. "I gave Kailan what I had left for her to use in the Time Chamber. I figured the ones I gave you would be more than sufficient until I could grow more."

"So you _don't_ have any more?" Azuki asked in despair.

Korin shook his head.

"_Look, Kailan, I'm only gonna say this once, 'cause I'm pretty sure you've already figured this out,"_ King Kai started. _"Super Saiyan Three uses up a tonne of energy. It's powerful, but if you're not used to it yet, that power will just pour out of you like an open tap. Once your reserves are depleted, that's it. No more Super Saiyan."_

"I know," Kailan answered apologetically. "I thought I had more time than that. I'm sorry, guys. I let you all down again."

"_Stop being all mopey, dammit!"_ King Kai shouted at her. _"The fact is, if you hadn't beaten the tar out of Korzhet just now, he'd have blown up the planet, or at the very least, killed everyone on it. I admit, you should have finished him off when you had the chance, instead of giving him a damn Senzu bean, but you didn't. But all isn't lost just yet."_

"That's right," Mr Popo smiled. "You're incredibly strong, Kailan, and you're a smart young woman. Goku figured out how to control Super Saiyan Three, I'm sure you can too."

"How long did you get to train with the Super Saiyan Three form inside the Time Chamber?" Korin asked her.

Kailan thought about it for a moment, counting on her fingers, then looked back to Korin.

"I'd say it took me about three months to figure out Super Saiyan Two, another three months to get comfortable with it, then another five months before I could reach Super Saiyan Three."

"So you only had about a week?" Korin blurted. "Oh man, no wonder you're so green."

"_Okay, I've figured out a plan," _King Kai told them. _"Kailan, you come to my planet right now, and we'll work on stabilising your energy in your new form. Azuki, you head into the Time Chamber and get to work. Any training you can do between now and when Korzhet recovers will be worth it if you get any kind of a power increase out of it."_

"I apologise, my Lord King Kai," Mr Popo replied, "but the door to the Time Chamber was destroyed in an effort to contain Korzhet."

"_WHAT?! Who's crazy-ass idea was that?!"_

"Well, sir," Mr Popo answered shakily, "it was my idea. I told Kailan to blow the door up. I didn't think Korzhet would be powerful enough to escape the Time Chamber."

"And anyway, I don't have enough energy left to use Instant Transmission again, not over that kind of distance," Kailan sighed. "You're too far away."

"_DAMMIT!" _King Kai yelled angrily. _"If you guys all die, then I'll __**never**__ be brought back to life again!"_

"King Kai, sir?" Kailan said softly. "I think I've figured out what I'm doing wrong, anyway. Once I fuel up again, I should be able to beat Korzhet pretty easily."

"_Have you already forgotten that Korzhet is a Saiyan?"_ King Kai asked. _"He'll have increased his power level again, after your last beating. He won't be as easy to beat this time. You certainly won't be able to embarrass him like you did before."_

"I don't need to embarrass him again," she said stoically. "I've gotten my revenge. Now it's about preventing him from massacring the people of Earth."

"I hope you believe that," Korin told her. "I certainly don't. You totally certain that you won't just play with him again?"

"No, I'm not positive," Kailan admitted. "When I first transformed into a Super Saiyan Two, it was the same. I thought I was totally unbeatable, then I remembered that Azuki still lost, even though he'd reached the same level as me. Reaching the third level was even worse. Every time I transform now, I'm so overwhelmed by all the power I've got, that I start to get arrogant. It's not like me at all."

"_Kailan, it's not an uncommon thing for a Saiyan to be arrogant, least of all when they reach a new level," _King Kai explained. _"But you're gonna have to keep your head, no matter what. It's critically important. Think clearly, and try not to let your emotions cloud your judgment. As for you, Azuki, I think you should come and see me. Let Kailan take care of this little mess for now. I've got a technique to show you that I think you'll find very useful for fighting Korzhet."_

"A new technique?" Azuki grinned. "From a Kai? There's no way I'm turning down an offer like that. Just show me where you are, and I'll use Instant Transmission, right away."

"_Hold on, kid," _King Kai said, then paused a few moments. _"Okay, can you sense my energy?"_

Azuki concentrated, his eyes closed. Suddenly he opened them wide, wearing a big grin on him face.

"I've got it! Hang on, King Kai. I'm coming!"

In a flash, he was gone. Korin started chuckling out of nowhere, and Kailan looked down at him in confusion.

"What the hell is so funny?" she asked.

"It's just…a female Super Saiyan Three," he chuckled. "I always kinda figured there had to be a difference. It's just too goofy, with all that hair, and no eyebrows. I always wondered what a girl version would look like. Now I know."

"And you find it funny?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest and tapping her foot in irritation

"Come see for yourself," he told her, and led her towards a large pot of water.

He opened one of them, lifting the lid and putting it aside.

"Look at the water, but don't get too close to it, and don't touch it."

Sure enough, a vision appeared of her fight with Korzhet. It showed her hair turning blonde and her eyes turning green as she transformed into a Super Saiyan, then her hair standing on end as she hit Super Saiyan Two, with the characteristic bio-electricity. Then the vision showed her pupils dilating and her hair growing wildly, reaching down past her waist as she hit Super Saiyan Three. Korin giggled.

"What's wrong with that?" she asked him.

"What do ya mean, 'what's wrong with that'? Look at all that crazy hair! And your no eyebrows! I mean, a monobrow is pretty bad, sure, but I'd take that over no eyebrows at all _any day._"

"You're a _cat!_" she blurted. "I'd take no eyebrows and crazy long blonde hair over being a _cat_ any day! Look at your ridiculous walking stick, and that same stupid expression you always have."

Korin continued to chuckle, not fazed by her retaliation at all.

"I think I look totally badass as a Super Saiyan Three," Kailan huffed in response. "_And_ I think it's sexy too. My hair looks great when it's that long, and my legs look totally amazing. I wish I could look like that all the time!"

Korin put a paw up to his mouth as he was about to burst out laughing, so Kailan grunted in annoyance and walked off.

"You're being an ass, Korin," she told him. "Come on, Mr Popo. Can you fix me something to eat? I'm totally starving. I hate to ask you, but Korin couldn't be bothered getting more Senzu beans, so I have no choice."

"Of course, young Kailan," Mr Popo nodded. "It would be my pleasure, as long as there's only one of you, though."

Korin started laughing again, and Mr Popo even smiled too.

"Ugh! What's with all the Saiyan hating?" she groaned. "I thought this was meant to be a serious situation? Saiyans are your only hope right now!"

She flew off towards the lookout, leaving the two of them behind, still laughing.

* * *

"That stupid little punk!" Elder Kai yelled, thrashing his arms about and stomping his feet. "I knew she'd screw it up!"

"Noble Ancestor, please contain yourself!" Shin begged him. "It's not over yet! Kailan actually managed to slow him down considerably, and buy the Earthlings some time!"

"But she could have ended it!" Elder Kai countered. "She had a perfect opportunity, and she wasted it!"

"I agree with our Great Ancestor, Master," Kibito added. "If she'd just used her last move first, she would have disabled him instantly, then she could have finished him off before her energy ran out."

"Please, you don't know what you're saying!" Chronoa argued. "It's not her fault! She was forced out of the Time Chamber too early, and hadn't mastered the new form yet."

"You're only on her side 'cause you have a crush on her!" Elder Kai told her, pointing a long finger at her.

Chronoa reeled backwards, then began getting angry.

"And you're just a hopeless, handbag-faced old fool who thinks he knows better than everyone else!" she retorted.

"Guys, please, this isn't helping!" Trunks stepped between them. "There's nothing we can do now anyway. This situation is out of our control."

"Maybe…" Shin stroked his chin. "Trunks, you've visited their timeline before, correct? You could go back there and take out Korzhet before he fully recovers!"

"It doesn't work that way!" Chronoa yelled at him. "Last time we tried to send them back into their own timeline, they arrived a year later than we expected. If we try and interfere again, it'll probably just happen again. Besides, we shouldn't have done anything in the first place. It was _our_ intervention that caused this whole thing to start."

"She's right," Trunks agreed. "To be honest, Korzhet's power level keeps going up so fast, I'm not sure if I'll be able to defeat him anyway."

"But you heard the whole conversation they had afterwards, right?" Shin asked everyone. "North Kai has summoned Azuki to his world already. He's probably teaching him a new technique, like the Spirit Bomb. That'll definitely help their fight with Korzhet."

"A Spirit Bomb?" Elder Kai asked, sounding doubtful. "That's just as likely to destroy the planet as Korzhet is. And besides, if Korzhet decides to wipe out most of the population first, there won't be anyone to draw power from."

"I think you're all being a bit harsh on Kailan," Trunks frowned. "She's proven she's capable of taking out Korzhet, she just needs one more shot at him, and I'm sure she'll get him this time."

"She's too young, and too foolish," Elder Kai huffed.

"I thought you said she'd become the strongest of them all, Old Man?" Chronoa countered.

"I never said she'd be able to handle it, though. And this is clearly proven true."

"Everyone, come quickly! You must see this!" Shin shouted.

The four Supreme Kais and Trunks gathered around Elder Kai's crystal ball and gasped as they saw what was currently happening at the lookout.

"She's going back in!" Kibito blurted. "She's using the same method as Majin Buu when he exited the Hyperbolic Time Chamber!"

"Ho ho! That's great thinking on her part. That might just give her enough time to get used to Super Saiyan Three!" Elder Kai cheered.

"A minute ago you said she was too young and foolish!" Chronoa scolded him. "Now you're on her side again?"

"If she masters Super Saiyan Three, then she'll definitely be able to shut Korzhet down for good," Elder Kai answered calmly.

Chronoa rolled her eyes, as Shin changed what the crystal ball was showing. His eyes went wide as he watched.

"Oh no," he said softly. "Your fears have come to light, Great Ancestor. Look!"

The crystal ball showed Korzhet leaving the lookout in ruins, with Mr Popo lying motionless in front of Dende's old chambers, and flying off towards the nearest populated centre. When he found it, he floated just above the city and closed his eyes.

"He's looking for Kailan," Shin surmised. "Mr Popo must not have told him where she was, and now he's paid the ultimate price."

"But how could he recover so quickly?" Elder Kai asked. "It hasn't been _that_ long since his fight with Kailan ended."

"Your crystal ball doesn't work so well when it's dealing with events in the future," Chronoa explained. "The events of their time haven't been fully written yet. Not even the scrolls in the Time Vault can show us. The crystal ball is showing us events that _could_ become fixed points in history, but without anything being definite yet, it keeps jumping from event to event. It could have been hours and hours since Korzhet recovered."

"Don't look now, guys, but he's just destroyed the whole city," Trunks told them.

"Then Kailan must still be in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber," Chronoa noted. "I hope she knows what she's doing. If she gets trapped in there and can't get back out again, it's all over."

"She wouldn't have gone in there unless she knew she could get back out again," Trunks shook his head. "And besides, the people of Earth can be wished back using the Namekian Dragon Balls."

"You can't use the Dragon Balls for that sort of thing!" Elder Kai yelled at him. "We've been through this before. It's just not proper. I won't allow it."

"With all due respect, Venerable Elder," Shin said, "I do believe it's up to the Supreme Kais of their own time to make that decision, not us. We can't possibly interfere from our current point."

"But wouldn't that just be us?" Elder Kai asked. "It's only a thousand years."

"Well, yes, I suppose it would be," Shin blinked.

"Then we'll just have to remember to stop them from using the Namekian Dragon Balls in a thousand years' time," Elder Kai huffed.

"Nobody remind him," Chronoa whispered to the others. "He'll forget about it for sure. He's just a crazy old codger."

"_I HEARD THAT, CHIBI KAI!"_

"You see?" Chronoa giggled. "Old."

* * *

"Wow, that technique is really something else!" Azuki puffed.

King Kai didn't respond. He'd been looking towards the Earth for a while now, and Azuki was beginning to get worried.

"What's the matter, King Kai?" Azuki asked him.

"Ah, it's nothing," he laughed nervously. "You just continue your training. Master that technique I taught you, that's all you need to worry about."

Azuki raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest.

"Well now I _really _wanna know what's going on."

"Dammit! I never thought I'd say this, but I wish you were as dense as Goku sometimes," King Kai sighed. "Here, put your hand on my back and close your eyes."

Azuki's jaw dropped, then it slammed shut and his teeth began to grind.

"Hey! Watch it! You're pushing me over!" King Kai yelled.

"Oops! Sorry, King Kai," Azuki apologised. "I…just can't believe what I'm seeing."

"I know, it's horrible," he agreed. "And it's all the more reason why you need to finish your training."

"Shouldn't we be getting to Planet Namek?" Azuki asked. "We need to ask the Namekians if we can use their Dragon Balls, don't we?"

"As much as I'd like to speed up the process and finally get my life back, no, we can't do that yet. We have to wait until Korzhet's defeated, or he'll just keep killing people. Then we'd have to wait a Namekian year before we can bring back anyone he kills _after_ that."

"But don't they need to go and find them first?"

"Oh, that's what you meant," King Kai blushed a little, then cleared his throat. "No, no, they gather their Dragon Balls as soon as they're scattered. All we'll have to do is give them some warning that we're coming, and they'll be ready for us by the time we get there."

"Oh wow! Really?"

"Sometimes I forget it's been a thousand years since all this stuff was totally normal," King Kai sighed. "Having to explain it all again, to a Saiyan no less, it's just a little weird."

"What was that?" Azuki asked.

"Uh, nothing! Nothing! You just finish mastering the technique I taught you, okay? If you can pull it off, it should put you on at least equal footing with Korzhet. If Kailan fails, at least we'll have backup."

"That's all I am now? Backup?"

"No offense, kid, but Super Saiyan Three is a form that's only been reached by a few Saiyans in the last couple of thousand years. Even fewer have managed to use it effectively. I'm not saying you never will, but you probably won't. Besides, it's easier to just use the second one. You know, the one with the lightning, but no crazy hair."

"Super Saiyan Two?"

"Yeah! That's the one. Vegeta always used that, so did Trunks, and Goten, and they were pretty much as strong as Goku's Super Saiyan Three was. Gohan even managed to surpass it without transforming at all!"

"Wow, I had no idea it was even possible to surpass a Super Saiyan Three like that."

"Yeah, of course it is. They're just multipliers, that's all. Makes it easier to reach higher power levels without having to train for years and years. Plus, Super Saiyan Two doesn't drain power at the same rate that Three does."

Azuki was deep in thought now, and King Kai grinned at his own display of wisdom.

"Stick with me, kid, you might learn something," he laughed and snorted.


	10. Planet Namek's Dragon Balls

King Kai kept grumbling worriedly while Azuki trained. Eventually he gave up trying to concentrate on two things at once and went over to him.

"Alright, King Kai, what's going on down there?" he asked.

"Uh, nothing, nothing," King Kai laughed nervously. "I thought I just saw another colony of Saiyans, that's all."

Azuki raised an eyebrow, then shook his head in disappointment.

"Why don't you just tell me?" he asked. "I've got this technique down-pat anyway. I don't need any more training."

King Kai looked at him quizzically for a few moments, long enough for Azuki to start wondering if there was something on his face. He raised an eyebrow again, then gestured at King Kai to start talking.

"You promise not to get mad and go all Vegeta on me?"

"Just tell me!" Azuki yelled angrily. "I thought Kais were supposed to be benevolent."

"You're not filling me with confidence, kid," King Kai frowned in disappointment. "Turns out there's a bit more Vegeta in you than I thought."

"Are you gonna tell me what's going on or not?"

"Fine," King Kai sighed. "About six hours ago, Korzhet blew up Planet Earth."

"He did _WHAT?!_"

"Come on, it's not as if you didn't feel it too," King Kai said defensively.

"Yeah, but you're a _Kai!_ You told me not to worry about it, to continue my training!"

"And as a result, you learned a new technique that will help you to defeat Korzhet," King Kai answered sternly. "It's no good telling you these things if there's nothing we can immediately do about it. That's what makes _me_ a _Kai_, and _you _a _Saiyan_."

"So I've been here _training_, for _eight hours_, and Korzhet's blown up the Earth in that time? What the hell's gonna happen to Kailan?"

"…I can't sense her energy," King Kai admitted sadly. "It just disappeared around the time you got here."

"You mean she's _dead?_"

"I doubt it, although with the whole planet gone, then it stands to reason that she's dead now too," King Kai thought out loud. "Although, if she'd died, her energy would have gradually depleted before winking out completely. I felt it just disappear."

"Hmm," Azuki started thinking. "It did that when she entered the Hyperbolic Time Chamber too. I couldn't sense her at all as soon as she went in."

"Of _course!_ Why didn't I think of that?" King Kai blurted, frustrated with himself, then quickly sobered his temperament again. "But hold on a sec, didn't you say she blew up the door to try and trap Korzhet inside?"

"Yeah, she did, but Korzhet found a way out after that," Azuki explained. "If he found a way out, maybe Kailan found a way back in."

"Yeah, that could work," King Kai nodded. "I mean, Majin Buu and Gotenks both found a way out of the Time Chamber with no door. Maybe she could get back in as well."

"But we're forgetting something," Azuki frowned. "If she tries to get back out of the Time Chamber and there's no more Earth, won't she just exit into space and be killed?"

"I don't think so," King Kai shook his head. "She's no dummy, she'd see the emptiness of space and probably not wanna go out into it. She'd stay inside the Time Chamber."

"I suppose you're right," Azuki admitted.

"Anyway, there's bigger things to worry about right now, like where Korzhet's headed next."

"How would he get away from Earth anyway?" Azuki asked. "Wouldn't he get blown up along with the planet? He can't use Instant Transmission like Kailan and I can."

"He stole a ship from Capsule Corp before he destroyed Earth," King Kai explained. "He blew the planet up from space. He's headed towards Planets Yardrat and Namek now."

"Then we have to work quickly!" Azuki yelled in urgency. "We have to do something before he gets to Planet Yardrat!"

"Relax, kid, it'll take him five days or so to get to Yardrat by space ship, and another day after that to get to Namek," King Kai told him. "We've got time. But yes, I agree, we probably should start doing something about him before he decides to make a pitstop and blow something else up along the way."

"So we should go to Planet Namek and ask the Namekians if we can use their Dragon Balls."

"_We?_" King Kai blurted. "What's this 'we' business? I'm not going anywhere."

"You mean you're _not _gonna help?"

"I'd love to, but you see there's this little problem with me still being _dead!_ I can't visit the mortal realm like this, unless I ask Supreme Kai for permission. Even then, it'd be doubtful. You're better off just going there on your own. I can still communicate with you."

"Aren't you supposed to be a Kai?" Azuki frowned and folded his arms across his chest.

"You poor, stupid man," King Kai shook his head. "You really don't get how this all works, do you?"

"No need to mock me," Azuki frowned a little harder. "Just point me towards Planet Namek, and I'll go pay them a visit. Are they at least nice?"

"Oh, the Namekians are lovely," King Kai smiled. "Really, one of the most polite species in the galaxy. Just speak to their Elder, and they'll let you use the Dragon Balls, no problem."

"How do you know that?" Azuki asked. "Surely they won't just let anyone use them. What if I was a bad guy and wanted to become immortal or something?"

"Believe it or not, that's actually happened before," King Kai laughed. "Frieza went there and asked Grand Elder Guru that very question. Of course, they didn't let him."

"So why would they trust me? I'm a Saiyan. We don't have the best reputation in the universe."

"Just tell them I sent you, they'll let you use the Dragon Balls," King Kai grinned. "If they doubt you, just turn around and show them the back of your gi."

"Why? What's on the back of my gi?" Azuki asked, turning around and trying to see his own back unsuccessfully.

"Well, since you've been training here, under me, I figured it was appropriate for you to wear my symbol."

"Oh," Azuki smiled. "That's actually a massive honour. Thank you, King Kai."

"Don't mention it," he grinned back at him. "Now get going."

"Right, which way is it?"

King Kai's antennae searched the East Galaxy for a few moments, then he jumped suddenly and cried out in surprise.

"Whoa! They've really grown since the last time I checked!" he laughed and snorted. "I guess that's what happens when you don't check a planet out for a thousand years. Look in that direction."

He pointed towards the East Galaxy, so Azuki started searching for high power levels, but despite all his efforts, he couldn't distinguish the Namekians from anyone else.

"I'm sorry, King Kai," he apologised. "I can't tell which ones are the Namekians."

"Oh, right, I suppose you've never met the Guardian of Earth before, and Piccolo's no longer around either…hmm, let me see…I've got it! Put your hand on my back."

Azuki put his hand on King Kai's back, and tried to sense what King Kai was sensing. He pointed his antennae towards Planet Namek again, and before long Azuki could pinpoint their location.

"Right! I can sense them now, thanks King Kai!" Azuki grinned. "I'll be there in a flash."

He dematerialised in a fraction of a second, leaving King Kai alone on his little planet with Bubbles and Gregory.

* * *

_Wow, _Azuki thought to himself as he looked around at his immediate surroundings, _cool trees. And green people, huh. Wasn't expecting that. Too bad I arrived at night time, I can't see too much._

"Greetings, stranger," an older Namekian said as he approached Azuki. "You appear to be proficient in the Instant Transmission technique. A very rare technique indeed, although you don't appear to be from Planet Yardrat. What brings you to our planet?"

"Uh, well, I'm from Planet Earth, you see," Azuki answered nervously. "I'm a half-Saiyan. The name's Azuki. I actually came here to –"

"Ah, an Earthling-Saiyan hybrid," the Namekian smiled. "We've sensed a rising power from your part of the universe for some time now, and we hoped that there would be benevolent Saiyans. I'm glad to see that it's true."

"Well, actually, not all of us are good," Azuki laughed nervously. "That's actually what brings me here. A really nasty guy named Korzhet, who's also a Saiyan hybrid, he actually –"

"–blew up the Earth," the Namekian finished for him. "We're aware. That's why the sky is dark, you see. We've called the eternal dragon Porunga to restore your planet for you."

"You have?!" Azuki blurted out in surprise. "That's fantastic! Thank you very much!"

"It's the least we can do for the planet whose people saved us all so many times," the Namekian smiled back warmly. "Now, you should go and thank Elder Zumu in person. I'm sure he'd be glad to meet you."

"Awesome! I'll do that right now," Azuki grinned excitedly. "Where do I find him?"

"See that huge dragon in the sky over there?" the Namekian pointed behind Azuki. "Fly there, and Elder Zumu will be the biggest Namekian you can see."

"Holy crap!" Azuki yelped as he noticed Porunga, the Namekian Eternal Dragon, for the first time. "That thing's _gigantic!_"

"I take it you've never seen Earth's dragon Shenron before," the Namekian laughed. "Anyway, fly over there now, before they're done making their wishes. It was a pleasure to meet you, Azuki."

The two bowed to each other, and Azuki quickly took off towards Porunga. As he got closer and closer, he noticed just how enormous Porunga really was. He seemed to fill the entire sky as Azuki approached. Before long though, Azuki noticed a huge Namekian, older than the rest, standing before Porunga with seven shining orbs in front of him, amongst a group of normal sized, younger Namekians.

_Those must be the Dragon Balls,_ Azuki realised. _They're bigger than I thought._

He landed behind the group of Namekians, and they all turned to face him straight away.

"A stranger," one said warily.

"How did he get here?"

"What species is he?"

"I can sense his power, he's extremely strong, whoever he is."

The large Namekian turned around, wearing a friendly smile, and held his hand out for Azuki to shake it. Azuki smiled back and readily shook the Elder Namekian's hand.

"Greetings, Earthling," he said. "I am Elder Zumu. I am glad that you're here to witness this. We took the liberty of gathering the Dragon Balls and calling Porunga to wish for your planet and its people to be restored. I hope this is in keeping with your wishes."

"Oh yeah, absolutely," Azuki grinned. "I actually came here to ask you if I could make those exact wishes anyway."

"_Does that mean he hasn't made any wishes yet?" _King Kai asked with panic in his voice._ "Then it's not too late," _he sighed in relief. _"Please, ask the Elder if you can make an urgent wish!"_

"Whose voice is that?" Zumu asked. "With what authority does he speak?"

"Oh, that's King Kai," Azuki told him. "He's the God of the North Galaxy."

"My Lord Kai! I apologise profusely for not speaking of you with the proper courtesy befitting a deity such as yourself," Zumu bowed.

"_It's cool, Elder Zumu, you didn't know it was me. But I must ask you, can I wish for everyone on my planet to be brought back to life? Like, as fast as possible?"_

"Of course, my Lord King Kai," Zumu answered respectfully. "It would be our honour."

"King Kai?" Azuki began to ask. "Why the urgency?"

"_Kailan's escaped from the Time Chamber, and she's floating in space! She has seconds to live, unless I can go there using Instant Transmission! But I __**can't**__ unless I'm not __**dead**__ anymore!"_

"Give us but a moment, King Kai," Zumu said, then spoke a sentence in Namekian that neither King Kai nor Azuki understood.

"Your wish has been granted," Porunga boomed. "All the inhabitants of King Kai's planet have had their lives restored."

"_Fantastic! I've waited such a long time for this! In your face, Goku! I'm alive and __**you're dead!**__"_

"Um, King Kai?" Azuki muttered.

"_Oh right, I'll be right back."_

* * *

"Thanks," Kailan heaved a sigh of relief. "I was really close to dying, there."

"Don't mention it," King Kai replied flatly. "I'm King Kai, by the way. Kai of the North Galaxy. That's your galaxy, just so you know."

"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you," Kailan curtsied. "I'm –"

"Kailan, I know," King Kai grinned.

"Oh…I suppose you're a Kai, so you probably _would_ know."

"What the hell were you doing in space?" King Kai blasted her. "Couldn't you see that the Earth was blown up? What were you _thinking?!_"

"Well, the Time Chamber ran out of food," Kailan explained. "I was starving, I had to take my chances on the outside."

"You mean three years' worth of food for _two people_ wasn't enough? Didn't Mr Popo restock the shelves before you went in?"

"Yeah, he did, before I went in the first time," Kailan told him. "But I was in there for a year. I only ate about two thirds of it that time, mostly 'cause I had Senzu beans as well. But this time, I was in there for about four months, and there just wasn't enough. Super Saiyan Three really tires me out. I had to keep eating so I'd have enough energy to train. It's a miracle that there was enough to last me even _that_ long."

"So you exited the chamber into _space?!_" King Kai blurted.

"Yeah," Kailan shrugged. "I figured I'd have a better chance of surviving out there than in the Time Chamber with no food."

"You Saiyans," King Kai shook his head and laughed. "You're just impossible. I mean, where do you put all that food? You're the size of my left leg!"

"I dunno, I just get really hungry. I can't explain it."

"Neither could Goku or Vegeta, and they were _pure_-blooded Saiyans," King Kai laughed. "Hang on a sec, I'll whip something up for you. You must be starving."

"Oh man, you better believe it!" Kailan shouted excitedly. "I'd eat sixty bowls of plain rice right now! If it's edible at all, I'll destroy it!"

"Young lady, it's hard to believe a pretty little thing like you is the descendant of Goku, but every word that comes out of your mouth makes me more of a believer."

"_King Kai?"_ Azuki called. _"Yo, King Kai? Are you there?"_

"Oh, it's Azuki," he chuckled in embarrassment. "I forgot about him."

"_Well, Porunga is getting a little pissed off at waiting,"_ Azuki explained. _"Are you cool with us wishing Earth and all the people back now?"_

"Huh? Yeah, of course I am," King Kai answered. "Get on with it, then make your way back here. But be nice to the Namekians, make sure you depart on good terms, okay?"

"_You got it, King Kai. See ya soon."_

"Now, where were we?"

"FOOD!" Kailan squealed, saliva literally dripping down her chin.

"Oh, alright, gimme a minute," King Kai dismissed her with a wave. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?"

"Apples?!" Kailan grunted. "_Please _tell me you have apples!"

"Apples? What the…oh, there's some in that tree over there, go entertain yourself while I get your food ready. Honestly, a thousand years on, and I'm still just a chef for a Saiyan."

Kailan leapt into the tree and tore two apples from it, heaving them down so fast she almost forgot to spit out the cores. She kept going for a few minutes until the tree was completely empty, just as Azuki returned.

"Hey, Kailan," he grinned. "How'd you go in the Time Chamber?"

"They ran out of food," she pouted. "I had to leave. I just ate a whole tree's worth of apples, but apples don't fill me up. I'm still starving."

"Yeah, even these ten-times-gravity apples aren't much good," Azuki agreed. "You'd think they'd be ten times more filling, but they're just not."

"_GRAVITY DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY!"_ King Kai yelled. "Be patient, alright? I'm fixing you up some food right now."

Suddenly Kailan leapt out of the tree and stared into the distance.

"Feel that?" she asked Azuki. "I can feel the Earth again."

"Yeah, the Namekians wished it back, and all the people too," Azuki told her.

"Really?" she squealed. "That's amazing! Oh, right, the Namekian Dragon Balls, huh."

"Yep," Azuki grinned. "I promised them I'd help protect them if anyone ever attacked, but they would have let me use them anyway."

"So where's Korzhet?"

"He's headed for Planet Yardrat, then Planet Namek," Azuki frowned. "Searching for strong fighters to test himself against. He blew up the Earth just after you went into the Time Chamber. We think he's gonna blow up more planets unless we stop him."

"How did he get away from Earth without blowing himself up?"

"King Kai says he stole a space ship from Capsule Corp," Azuki told her. "So it'll take him another four-and-a-bit days to get to Yardrat. But I think you and I can probably both stop him now, so it won't be a problem."

"So you learnt how to go Super Saiyan Three as well, huh?" Kailan grinned. "Good work, Azuki. It's not the easiest thing to do."

"No, actually I haven't," he said glumly. "But I learnt something even better."

"Well, I never said it was _better_ than Super Saiyan Three," King Kai clarified. "But it's a very useful technique, and one that should never be underestimated _or_ abused."

"Wow! Can you show me?" Kailan asked enthusiastically. "I wanna learn this new technique!"

"Honestly, Kailan, in Super Saiyan Three, it would pretty much rip your body apart," King Kai explained grimly. "It's really not a good idea at all. Anyway, food's ready. You guys eat, and I'll tell you my plan."

Before he could even finish his sentence, Kailan and Azuki leapt at the food and began annihilating it one bowl at a time. After barely a minute, they'd gone through ten servings each, hardly even stopping for air. King Kai sighed, then started talking anyway.

"So, what I want you to do is use your Instant Transmission to get to Korzhet, then transport him and yourselves to an uninhabited planet in the North Galaxy. That way, the other Kais won't get too pissed at me."

"_That's _your grand plan?" Azuki blurted, his mouth still partially filled with rice and chicken. "I could have come up with that myself."

"_You _wouldn't have been able to find a planet!" he retorted angrily. "You would have just brought him back to Earth – or worse, _here_ – and risked blowing _me_ up or the Earth again!"

"Yeah, he would have," Kailan agreed.

"No I wouldn't…probably," Azuki mumbled as he attacked another chicken thigh.

"Look, the planet I've chosen is completely uninhabited, it's relatively flat, it's quite hot, and the gravity is twenty times what you have on Earth," King Kai grumbled. "Korzhet won't have anywhere to hide, he'll be less used to the heat, and he'll take some time to get used to the gravity. You guys won't."

Kailan and Azuki looked at each other, both briefly pausing their eating. Kailan turned back to King Kai with a stern look on her face.

"That's not fair on Korzhet," she told him. "If we're gonna beat him, it's gotta be fair."

"He blew up the _EARTH!_" King Kai screamed. "He _killed Mapo!_"

"Yeah, but it won't feel as good to beat him knowing we cheated," Azuki agreed with Kailan. "If we're gonna beat him, it's gotta be comprehensive."

"Honestly, you'd think I'd have learned by now," King Kai sighed and facepalmed. "You damn stupid Saiyans. You're risking the entire galaxy! Maybe even the whole universe!"

"Nah, I don't think so," Kailan grinned as she finished eating, wiping her mouth clean. "He won't beat us. He might be freakishly strong, even for a Saiyan, but we won't lose."

"Yeah, don't worry, King Kai," Azuki smiled. "It'll be fine. Korzhet doesn't stand a chance. And to prove it, _I'll_ fight him first."

"Nuh-uh," Kailan frowned. "I'm _so_ going first."

"No way, Kailan, you fought him last time, and you wasted it," Azuki growled. "It's my turn now!"

"Rock, paper, scissors!" Kailan suggested.

"Alright, but you're gonna lose," Azuki grinned confidently.

"Saiyans…why do I even bother," King Kai sighed in dismay.

"One…"

"Two…"

"_THREE!_"

Azuki grinned as his hand showed paper, while Kailan's was a rock.

"Ha! Suck on that, Kailan!" he laughed. "I get to go first!"

"Fine," Kailan sulked. "Whatever, it's not like I won't get my turn anyway."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence."

"It's only a problem if he beats both of us," Kailan shrugged. "Not that I don't have faith in you, I just really wanna fight him again."

"Well, too bad," Azuki smiled lopsidedly. "You won't get a chance. Korzhet's mine."

"Are you two idiots quite done yet?" King Kai asked impatiently.

"Yep," Azuki grinned.

"Hold on, I'm gonna take you to the planet I chose."

In a flash of light, all three of them were gone, arriving almost instantly at a barren wasteland of a planet that felt about ten degrees hotter than the desert Kailan and Azuki used to train in with Mapo and Korzhet back on Earth. They also struggled to stand up at first, and sweat began to pour off their faces as they got used to the gravity.

"I thought we agreed to fight on a more neutral planet," Azuki grunted.

"Too bad," King Kai told him sternly. "You're fighting here, and that's all there is to it. Now sense where Korzhet is, then use your Instant Transmission to bring him here, okay? I don't need to tell you what will happen if he beats you two."

"Relax, King Kai," Azuki smiled. "We've got this."

"I hope your overconfidence doesn't get us all killed."

"You trained me yourself," Azuki brushed him off. "Don't you have any faith in your own techniques?"

"You had _eight hours_ of training," King Kai sighed. "I'd have preferred six months, or a year, or five. Whatever, I'm gonna go back home and watch from a safe distance. Just…don't lose, okay? If an evil Saiyan takes out the North Galaxy, I'll never hear the end of it. It's bad enough that I was dead for a thousand years. If I come back to life the same day I lose my whole galaxy…just beat that bastard, okay?"

"Trust us," Kailan winked. "We want this guy dead more than anyone. We _owe _him."

King Kai waved goodbye as he used Instant Transmission to head back to his own planet to watch the fight with Gregory and Bubbles, while Kailan and Azuki grinned at each other. Kailan nodded to Azuki as he began warming up, then she used Instant Transmission to travel to Korzhet's stolen space ship.


	11. Azuki Times Three

Kailan arrived aboard Korzhet's stolen ship and was almost hit by several blasts. She managed to duck in time, but that was also due to the fact that the gravity inside the ship was too much for her to handle.

_What the hell is going on?_

She glanced at what she assumed was the ship's control panel, and saw a display reading '30g'. Irritated, she stood up with some effort, then quickly did a few star jumps and stretches to try and get used to the gravity. Much to her delight, she noticed that Korzhet was having slightly more trouble than her.

"How the hell did _you_ get here?" he asked angrily. "Have you been here the whole time?"

"Nope," she grinned. "Instant Transmission. Something you won't live long enough to learn."

She darted over to the controls and dialled up the gravity another ten Gs, to ensure that Korzhet wouldn't be able to make any sudden movements to try and stop her, then changed the ship's destination to Earth.

"Woman! What are you doing?!" he blurted. "How dare you attempt to hijack my ship!"

"Attempt?" she laughed. "I already have. And it's not _your_ ship. It belongs to Capsule Corp, and it's going back there right now. And _you're_ coming with _me_."

"I will do no such thing!" he growled. "And _you_ will pay for your insolence!"

"No, I won't," she told him sternly, then quickly dashed over to him and used Instant Transmission again to bring him back to the unnamed planet Azuki waited for them on.

They arrived in a split second, much to Korzhet's surprise. He tried to blast her with a sneak attack, but Kailan simply slapped it aside. He growled angrily, then noticed Azuki stretching a few metres away.

"_You!_" he yelled. "How are you both still alive? I destroyed the whole planet!"

"Well, I was on King Kai's world at the time, and Kailan was in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, which is in a different dimension," Azuki explained condescendingly. "So basically, you failed."

"Plus, the Earth was wished back using the Dragon Balls from Namek," Kailan grinned.

"_WHAT?!_" Korzhet fumed. "Well it hardly matters now. You've gathered yourselves in one place so I can kill you both all the more easily. I've been training in twenty times Earth's gravity aboard that ship, so my strength will far outstrip yours now."

"Um, what do you think _this_ is?" Kailan pointed at the ground. "This planet has twenty times Earth's gravity as well. And as you can see, it doesn't bother us."

Korzhet's face went red as he got angrier and angrier. He began powering up, entering a rage-augmented Super Saiyan Two state. The ground beneath him cracked and split apart, then formed a crater as his power began to rise and rise. Kailan noted that it surpassed Azuki's power level fairly quickly, and she wondered to herself how he planned to fight him.

"I'll take you both at the same time!" he roared. "Let's see what you've got!"

"No way, Korzhet!" Azuki yelled back at him. "I get to go first. I called it already, I won rock, paper, scissors. I'm fighting you. Kailan has to watch."

"It's true," she shrugged. "He won fair and square."

"_I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR STUPID GAMES!"_ Korzhet screamed, his power level climbing even higher.

"You know, you really disappoint me, cousin," Azuki grinned. "I always knew you were a turd, but I thought you understood honour. All you understand is how to be a petulant child. You lose your temper when you don't get your way, you destroy things that you can't have, and you bully people that don't do what you want them to."

"Maybe from your perspective," Korzhet frowned back at him as Azuki began powering up himself, transforming into a Super Saiyan. "But the way I see it, I'm the strongest warrior alive, and it's the rest of the universe's business to honour _me_. If anyone disrespects my strength, _my_ honour, then they deserve punishment. Especially that little _brat_ friend of yours."

Azuki's expression turned dark when Korzhet mentioned Kailan. He transformed into a Super Saiyan Two and began powering up as high as he could. He shouted in effort, maximising his power level and utilising his rage at Korzhet to push as hard as he could.

"Kailan _survived_ you," he growled. "We let you tag along with us because you're my _cousin_. You're my _family_. In return, you beat her half to death every other day, and treated her like an _object_. Like she was your personal property. _Do you know what that did to her? DO YOU?!_"

"She had the opportunity to be my woman!" Korzhet barked back at him. "I gave her a position in my life – the life of the strongest Saiyan who has _ever lived!_ And how did she repay me? By embarrassing me in front of a pair of _weaklings_ like you and that bald-headed maggot Mapo. She held me completely defenceless, squeezed between her legs like some sort of _plaything_, mocking me. _Me_. The most powerful of all the Saiyans, reduced to a dribbling, moaning mess by a five-foot _child_. A _teenager_. Not even just once, but _twice!_ A pathetic wannabe like you couldn't _possibly_ understand how I feel, Azuki. I was _humiliated_. A warrior, squeezed unconscious by a little girl. _TWICE! And I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!_"

"You think I give a shit about your ego, Korzhet?" Azuki retorted. "Kailan beat you up, and you _deserved_ it. After all the times you almost killed her, you think you need _revenge?_ You're a sick, twisted animal, Korzhet. Kailan _surpassed_ you. Deal with it. She's stronger than you, and there's nothing you can do about it. And guess what? Now it's _my _turn to surpass you as well."

"Not bad, Azuki, not bad," Korzhet chuckled vainly as Azuki finished powering up. "But it still won't be enough to beat me."

Azuki disappeared, reappearing a fraction of a second later right in Korzhet's face. Korzhet's eyes went wide as Azuki's right fist smashed into his face before he could even blink, sending him soaring almost horizontally. Azuki chased after him, but it was a ruse. Korzhet planted both feet in Azuki's chest and sent him flying into the air. He stopped in place, then started rapid-firing yellow energy blasts straight upwards.

The blasts came flying straight back at him, and he was forced to dodge. After a few moments the yellow energy blasts were replaced by white ones, but before Korzhet had time to react he was struck by a huge white blast that sent him hurtling towards the ground.

Azuki grinned, then went after him, but couldn't see him straight away, nor did he see or hear a crash. Korzhet appeared above him suddenly and slammed a double-handed fist into the back of his neck, and he hit the ground like a missile, making a decent sized crater.

"It really was a bit of an exaggeration to suggest that you'd surpass me," Korzhet laughed. "Have you even gotten any stronger at all? It feels like you're facing me again with the exact same power you had when I kicked your ass last time."

"I'm glad you think so," Azuki said with a grin. "This is really gonna blow your mind then. Here goes…_KAIOKEN!_"

Kailan's eyes bugged out of her head as she watched Azuki's aura become red at the edges, and felt his power instantly double.

_So this is the new technique Azuki learnt. No wonder King Kai didn't want me using that. It really would tear my whole body apart in Super Saiyan Three._

"What _is_ this?" Korzhet blurted out. "That's no transformation. What the hell did you just do?"

"It's easier if I just show you," Azuki grinned back at him.

In the blink of an eye, Korzhet was doubled over, then kneebutted in the chin, then blasted in the face. He skidded along the ground for a hundred metres before Azuki appeared behind him again, kicked him into the air, then booted him back the way he'd come, like a football. He skidded to a halt eventually, and Azuki let him get back to his feet.

"Impressive, cousin," Korzhet grunted. "But you still haven't surpassed me. Allow me to introduce you to _real_ power!"

The two of them both disappeared, exchanging lightning-fast melee attacks across the entire battlefield. Kailan watched them travel hundreds of metres in mere moments as they fought, and while the occasional punch or kick got through the other's defences and hit home, most were either dodged or blocked. To the untrained eye, they seemed evenly matched.

_But they're not,_ Kailan thought to herself. _One of them is still holding back_.

As soon as Kailan finished thinking it, Azuki's power level began to climb significantly. He winced as his muscles bulged and the bioelectricity crackling around his body started going haywire.

_What's he doing? He looks like he's about to explode. Is he in pain?_

"_TIMES THREE!_" he screamed.

Suddenly Korzhet was being pummelled horribly, smashed from one side of the landscape to the other over and over again. Azuki gritted his teeth, powering up a massive energy blast in seconds that would normally have taken him about a minute. He shouted in effort as he launched it at Korzhet, who had only just started to get back up again. Korzhet's eyes went wide as the blast struck him, and he screamed in pain as the energy tore at his flesh.

Eventually Korzhet stopped resisting, and he was carried away by the blast into the horizon. But Azuki wasn't done. He flew past him at insane speed and intercepted Korzhet, slamming a double-handed fist into his abdomen. Korzhet hit the ground barely a split second after Azuki had hit him, and he felt all of it. He coughed up blood as he attempted to crawl along the ground, groaning loudly in pain as he tried to make sense of what was happening.

Azuki landed next to him, his face fierce with anger. Korzhet growled in fury and quickly got to his feet again, but Azuki didn't attack straight away.

"This fight is a foregone conclusion," Azuki told him, panting angrily. "You're _done_, Korzhet."

_Don't say stupid shit like that, Azuki_, Kailan thought as she shook her head in disappointment. _You're letting your power get to your head._

"Oh, you think so, do you?" Korzhet grinned. "You think I'll just cave in after a few little taps like that? I'm a _Saiyan_, you moron! You're going to have to do _much_ better than that if you want to stop _me!_"

Suddenly Korzhet swept Azuki's feet out from under him and kicked him hard in the chest, sending him flying away at pace. Korzhet then started powering up his signature two-handed blast, which he'd never actually told anyone the name of, fearing someone else would appropriate it.

_That only worked because you took him by surprise,_ Kailan frowned. _That won't work on him again._

Azuki, in his arrogance, charged straight back at Korzhet, ignoring the charging blast. He reared back his fist and yelled as Korzhet released the enormous yellow energy blast straight at him. Korzhet's eyes went wide again as Azuki screamed rabidly, tearing through the energy and forcing his way forward. Even as Korzhet tried to ramp the blast up even more, Azuki kept charging forwards, eventually reaching Korzhet and smashing his fist into his face with enraged precision.

Korzhet cried out in pain as the blow sent him bouncing backwards along the ground for more than a kilometre. Azuki grinned, laughing in between pulses of pain. Kailan watched on from the sidelines, knowing something was very wrong.

_I knew I should have picked scissors_, she scowled to herself. _This Kaioken technique is very quickly killing him. I'm glad King Kai never taught it to me. If he doesn't do something dramatic very soon, I'm gonna have to step in._

Azuki grunted, still gritting his teeth, and appeared next to Korzhet, standing over him. His chest heaved as he struggled to breathe in enough oxygen to keep himself going. Suddenly Korzhet started laughing, and Azuki couldn't help but wonder why, even in his enraged triple-kaioken state.

"What's so funny, cousin?" he snarled.

"You think you've won, don't you?" Korzhet laughed. "I'll admit, right now your power is greater than mine. But I know something you don't."

"Oh really?" Azuki growled angrily. "Is that a fact? Well, you know what I know? I know that you can't _possibly_ win this fight. I know that my power _far_ surpasses yours, and now I'm going to use every bit of it to put you down."

"Well you better do it fast," Korzhet grinned as a trickle of blood started rolling down his face from above his eye socket.

He fired a quick energy blast at Azuki's face, which he easily slapped aside, then charged forward with his fist reared back. Azuki easily caught the punch, but not the kick that followed, and he screamed in pain when it landed. Korzhet grinned, then started hammering Azuki with blow after blow, driving him back hundreds of metres. Each strike caused him to cry out in pain, and he couldn't understand why.

_I knew this would happen,_ Kailan shook her head.

Korzhet kept pummelling him until he transformed back into a regular Super Saiyan, then to his base form. He fell to the ground, completely beaten, before Korzhet grabbed hold of his gi and lifted him up off the ground. Azuki winced as pain coursed throughout his body, while Korzhet just grinned maniacally at him.

"Too slow," he snorted, then headbutted Azuki.

"Goddammit," Kailan muttered to herself.

"This is why you could never truly compete with me, cousin," Korzhet told him. "You never think things through properly. You just act. If you'd finished me off quickly instead of messing around, I'd be dead by now. But you didn't, and now here we are."

"Just kill me," Azuki spat. "Quit your damn gloating."

"Pathetic," Korzhet growled angrily. "To think that I'm actually related to a weakling like you. It's sickening. Oh well, I guess the universe won't be losing a powerful Saiyan warrior, at least. Goodbye, cousin."

He held his other hand up to Azuki's face and charged up a finishing blast, but it was knocked aside before he could fire it. He grunted in anger and looked down to find that Kailan was standing right next to him. She backhanded him in the face, knocking him to the ground and causing him to drop Azuki.

"I hope you don't mind, Azuki, but I'm gonna cut in here," she told him.

"I think that would be for the best," he wheezed.

She used Instant Transmission to transport him far away enough that he wasn't in any immediate danger, but was still close enough to see the fight.

"Guess I screwed that up, huh," he sighed.

"Don't be so hard on yourself," she dismissed. "You've never used that technique in a proper fight before. You couldn't have known it would mess your body up that much."

"King Kai warned me not to go above times two without more training with him, and I didn't listen."

"You didn't have a choice," she countered. "If you hadn't gone three times Kaioken, you would have lost a lot sooner. You did what you had to do, and you're still alive. When we get back to Earth, we'll get some more Senzu beans from Korin and you'll be fixed up in no time."

"Just promise me you'll win, alright?"

"I can't promise that," Kailan sighed, dipping her head.

"You're a Super Saiyan Three," he frowned. "Of _course_ you can."

"Super Saiyan Three _does_ have its limits, you know. Korzhet's pretty tough, it's gonna be harder than you think."

"I wish you'd stop talking like that," Azuki said sternly. "You're always doubting yourself. Always playing down your own strength."

"Doesn't help that I've been hanging out with guys like you and Korzhet for such a long time, I've never been able to compete with you guys properly."

"And there you go again," he shook his head. "You're younger than all of us, and a _lot_ smaller, and you've been keeping up with us all for years. Now you've surpassed us all. You're a great fighter, Kailan. I want you to start believing that."

"I don't –"

"Shut up," he shook his head again. "No more self-doubt, okay? You're a Super Saiyan _Three_. No one's done that in a thousand years, and even before then, only two people were able to do it. And one of them was a fused Saiyan. That makes two individual Saiyans in like, two thousand years. And you're _one_ of them. Don't you realise how incredible that is?"

Kailan didn't reply. She didn't want to risk becoming arrogant about her strength, having witnessed the risks of doing just that no more than a few minutes earlier. But she had to admit, Azuki was right.

"Just promise me one thing," Azuki said seriously.

"What's that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Teach me Super Saiyan Three when we get back home?"

"You got it," she smiled. "We'll keep pushing ourselves until we find the next level above, like Goku and Vegeta did."

"But we'll make it our own," he said, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. "We'll be the best."

She stood up, letting go of his hand, then nodded at him.

"Now go out there and kick his ass so we can go home," he finished.

She winked at him, then used Instant Transmission to travel back over to Korzhet, who was waiting impatiently in the exact spot he'd been standing in before. He turned his head to acknowledge her and snorted as she reappeared, then turned away again.

"So now Azuki gets little girls to fight his battles for him?" he mocked. "How preposterous."

"Only little girls that have kicked your ass on multiple occasions," she returned fire.

"A disgrace I will be quick to correct this time around," he sneered. "Nobody makes a fool out of me and lives to tell the tale."

"If your head was any further up your ass, you'd be looking out of your own mouth," she rolled her eyes.

"I will remember those words before I kill you," he snarled, powering up to his maximum. "You will _suffer _for your insult, _girl_. I'm going to hurt you in ways you daren't dream _possible!_"

Kailan smiled wryly, then transformed straight into a Super Saiyan Two as Korzhet watched on furiously. Her power approached his own, then quickly surpassed it as her chest-length golden hair started to grow out, eventually reaching down to the bottom of her indigo denim shorts. Her eyebrows disappeared and the characteristic bioelectricity surrounding her body became manic. Unlike before though, her shining golden aura was less erratic, and more like a regular Super Saiyan's.

"And there it is," Korzhet grinned. "The famous 'Super Saiyan Three'. I'm going to enjoy breaking you, girl. You can have your fancy tricks all you want, but I'm going to tear that stupid grin off your face and show it to you before I kill you."

Kailan just kept smirking at him, not fazed in the slightest by Korzhet's threats. She was reasonably relaxed, in fact, and even started posing a little, teasing Korzhet. She kept smirking at him as she ran her hands up her thighs, watching as he got angrier and angrier.

"I remember when you thought you had all this to yourself," she said half-sultrily, half-threateningly, then changed her expression to completely serious. "I remember you doing some pretty unspeakable things to me after you beat me half to death during training. I remember Mapo and Azuki being too afraid of you to do anything to help me. And you know what else I remember? I remember how good it felt to use this body of mine – the one you couldn't keep your hands off – to beat _you_ half to death. I'm gonna enjoy this, Korzhet. I'm gonna look down at your face while you're struggling to stay alive, and I'm gonna remember all the horrible experiences you left me with. All the terrible things I have to live with every day, and I'm gonna watch as your soul is ripped from your body and taken to hell."

Kailan turned her sweet, sultry look into that of a fierce, brutal warrior in a split second as the fuming Korzhet took his guard and prepared to attack.


	12. Kailan vs Korzhet

Korzhet leapt forwards, disappearing from Azuki's view, but not Kailan's. He reappeared right in front of her and aimed a ferocious punch right at her face, but his fist passed right through her.

"What?!" he cried out in surprise.

Suddenly he fell forwards, hitting the ground face-first as Kailan faded from view before his eyes.

"A Saiyan…using the Afterimage technique," he spat. "How sad."

"It worked on you, didn't it?" she laughed. "A Saiyan, _falling for _the Afterimage technique. Now _that's _sad."

"You will eat your words, you little princess," he growled back at her.

"Make me."

"With _PLEASURE!_"

He charged forward again and reared back his fist once more, but Kailan saw right through it, waiting for him to actually arrive before dodging. Korzhet roared in anger, and proceeded to let loose a flurry of blows at her, all of which missed by millimetres. Kailan dodged only just enough to avoid being hit each time, and Korzhet never even scraped her.

As the veins in his forehead began popping out, and his chest heaved, Korzhet powered up his signature two-handed blast and fired it at her at point blank range. He started laughing as smoke began to fill the air, but quickly stopped when he saw that his attack had absolutely no effect on her whatsoever.

"How can that have done _nothing?!_" he yelled in frustration.

"You cropped my top a little more," she complained, flicking a broken shoulder strap aside. "I really liked this top too."

"Shut up, you little ditz!" he shouted at her. "I've had _enough_ of your annoying voice, and your smug, half-assed attitude! _I WILL MAKE YOU PAY!_"

"You mean, after all the near-death experiences I suffered because of you, after all the sexual harassment and assault, you think I _owe_ you? Because I was a little _smug_ when you tried to _kill _me?" she shouted back. "Oh, that's it. No more messing around, Korzhet."

She disappeared before he'd even registered that she was about to move, and before he had time to figure out which direction she'd gone, he felt his belly caving in. As he doubled over, his eyes bulging out of his skull, he felt an arm wrap around his neck, holding him in a side-headlock, then felt a series of devastating blows to his back.

_I think that was eight punches,_ Azuki thought to himself as he watched on.

Korzhet fell to his knees, still in Kailan's headlock, his face quickly turning very red as she increased the pressure on his neck. He used his right hand to try and punch her in the belly and thighs, but they didn't have any effect on her. She just squeezed tighter, until he felt he was about to pass out, then suddenly she let go, and he fell face-first onto the ground again. He clutched at his back, then arched forwards again as the pain in his belly took over.

Kailan kicked him onto his back, then sat on his chest and smiled down at him. He punched her several times in the thighs, then Kailan stopped smiling. She grabbed both his wrists and transferred them to her opposite hands, crossing them over her thighs and pulling, nearly wrenching them out of his shoulders. He screamed and thrashed around in protest, which made her a little happier.

"You're so damn noisy," she complained. "Maybe this will shut you up."

She scooted forwards, sitting directly on his throat, then applied all her weight as she continued pulling at his arms. Korzhet tried to cough and wheeze, but nothing came out. He bucked relentlessly, trying anything to dislodge her, but nothing worked. She kept smiling down at him wickedly as the desperation in his eyes increased bit by bit, with each second he went without air.

Suddenly she felt a knee in her back, causing her to rock forward, giving Korzhet just enough leverage to push her off and escape. He quickly fired off a few quick energy blasts, striking her in the back and singeing her top a little more, then leapt to his feet and charged forward, punching her hard in her lower back. She cried out in pain and staggered forward, then felt her hair being pulled. She squealed as Korzhet pulled so hard he actually yanked her onto her back, then lifted her up off the ground. She screamed as he held her in front of his face, wearing a twisted grin, then headbutted her four times.

"You'd headbutt a girl?" she spat out some blood. "That's low, even for you, creep."

"I've done worse to girls," he said in a low, growly voice. "You should know."

He held his hand up to her face and powered up an energy blast, the yellow ball growing quickly in front of her eyes. She began to whimper and recoil as it got bigger and bigger, and Korzhet's laughter got louder and louder. He let it go, and she was sent flying across the landscape for a kilometre until she was able to finally push it off her. She fell to the ground, getting back to her feet, but felt Korzhet's foot pressing against her chest. He shoved her back down to the ground again, then pressed down on her throat.

"The great Super Saiyan Three isn't so tough after all," he grinned down at her as she clutched at his ankle, gasping for air. "I was expecting you to put up much more of a fight. You started out so strongly, then you just faded away. What happened, huh?"

She rocked backwards and wrapped her legs around his waist from behind, gripping tightly, then rocked forwards again, throwing him to the ground, much to his surprise. She quickly got to her feet and took guard, panting heavily. Korzhet got up as well, also panting quite heavily.

"So, you still have some fight left in you after all," he grunted. "Well let's see what we can do about that, huh?"

He took something out from inside his belt, and grinned as he put it in his mouth and crunched down on it. Kailan felt his power level rise back up to maximum, maybe even a little higher than before.

_Huh, a Senzu bean. That's actually pretty clever._

"Still feeling smug, bitch?" he grinned sadistically at her as he powered up his signature two-handed blast.

Her eyes went wide in horror as the blast became bigger and bigger. In seconds it was bigger than her, then big enough to take down the entire planet they were on, which was one-and-a-half times bigger than Earth.

"Wait, Korzhet!" she shouted. "You don't have to do this! Please!"

"No, I think I _do _have to do this," he kept grinning. "This should have happened back on Earth. This time, I will succeed where I previously failed. _This _time, you and Azuki both _die_. You should have realised that this 'Super Saiyan Three' saps your energy far faster than Super Saiyan Two does. You were a fool."

"No!" she squealed. "Please stop! I-I'll…I'll let you have me, if you stop…"

"Ha!" he snorted. "You had your chance, _princess_. I don't care about you anymore. You can't possibly tempt a warrior of my class out of doing his duty."

"No…" she sobbed. "Not like this…"

"So long, princess," he said, almost happily. "I'll see you in hell. _Then_ maybe I'll take you up on your offer."

He released the blast, aiming it at her torso, putting it on a path to the planet's surface, hoping it would destroy the planet as well. The blast was truly enormous, tightly condensed and crackling with energy, and it took barely a second to reach her.

"_WHAT?!_" he screamed as the blast changed direction.

Kailan stood exactly where she'd been before, her hand still outstretched from swatting the blast harmlessly away into space. Korzhet was fuming mad, and totally perplexed.

"But…but, your energy! It's so depleted! How could you possibly have summoned the strength to –"

"Try sensing it again, dumbass," she smirked.

He did, and his eyes widened in shock.

"But –"

"If I was so low on energy, how come I didn't transform back into another form?" she snorted. "You're as gullible as you are pathetic, Korzhet."

She disappeared, then reappeared behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing him tight in a bearhug. All the air left Korzhet's lungs and he wheezed a feeble protest as he tried in vain to pull her skinny arms apart.

"Dammit…princess…" he said breathlessly.

"My name's _Kailan_, not _princess_," she grunted, pulsing a squeeze that broke at least one rib.

Korzhet's face went red as the pain settled in, and he continued trying to pry her arms away.

"I just wanted to see you play all your cards," she told him. "I knew you'd think I'd run out of energy quickly in this form, and I knew you couldn't possibly beat me without some sort of plot. But that Senzu bean was sort of a waste of time, you know. I could have given it to Azuki, which would have done much more good."

She leant in close to him, her lips lightly brushing his ear.

"I'll let you in on a little secret," she whispered. "While you blew up the Earth, you know I was in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, right? Well I was in there for about four months, and in that time I learnt a few things. Now I can stay in this form for _hours_ without running out of power. _Hours_. How long do you think a big, strong Saiyan descendant of Prince Vegeta will last against an adorable little _princess_ like me?"

She let him go, and Korzhet's heart started throbbing in terror as he heard Kailan powering up an energy blast. He didn't even have time to turn around before it hit him in the back, burning his skin and sending shockwaves throughout his nervous system. He fell to his knees, clutching his back, then felt himself pass out for a moment as she punched him in the cheek. His head smashed into the ground, and he saw her step around in front of his face.

Kailan snorted in amusement, then grabbed his face in one hand and lifted him off the ground. He grasped at her wrist, groaning in protest, and gathered his feet up from under him until he was in a kneeling position.

"The answer is, as long as I want you to," she said softly, but coldly. "Out here, on this empty planet, there's nothing to save you. No more tricks, no collateral. You don't even have a way off it, even if you _do_ win. But guess what? I do. So now, what's going to happen, you sick, sick, perverted, sadistic piece of shit, is that you're going to suffer a small percentage of what I did by your hands. Then I'm going to make you wish you were dead. _Then _I'll let you die. And the last thing you're going to see before you go to hell for the rest of time is my face, smiling down at you. An image of innocence that _you _destroyed. The smile of a young girl that deserved better than the suffering you inflicted on her. As the light fades from your eyes, I'm going to laugh my ass off at you, you twisted prick."

Korzhet's face scrunched up as he realised just how hopeless the situation had become. Kailan held her left fist in front of his face as she held his face in her right hand, then smiled sweetly before hammering it into his forehead. She held on tightly enough that he didn't move, absorbing all of the impact force. He groaned in pain, but kept looking up at her, waiting for the next blow.

She threw him into the air, then flew after him, smashing her right fist into his chin, which sent him soaring upwards even faster. She disappeared, reappearing above him and ramming her foot down onto the top of his head. He sped towards the ground like a falling bullet, hitting it feet first and getting buried in it up to his knees.

He pulled himself out, then tried to charge up an energy blast, but Kailan was already there. She took the blast without suffering any damage at all, then yanked him out of the ground by the throat. She then slammed him back-first onto the ground, making a huge crater. Korzhet coughed up blood and tried unsuccessfully to cry out in pain, not knowing which part of his body to clutch at first.

Kailan casually strolled down the side of the crater as Korzhet desperately crawled away as fast as he could. He looked back, seeing her coming after him, but struck something as he turned around. He looked up and saw Kailan's legs, her black tights almost completely non-existent now, her bare calves and thighs presented before him like a harbinger of doom. He looked up further, only to see her smiling down at him in amusement.

She kicked him into the air, then chased after him, flying around behind him and kicking him in the back, sending him spinning back towards the ground yet again. He made another crater as he landed, and lay on his back looking up at the sky before trying to get back up again.

"Uh-uh-uh," Kailan said in a sing-song voice as she knelt down on his shoulders from behind him, pinning him.

He grabbed at her knees to try and dislodge her, but she simply grabbed his wrists and crushed them. He screamed in pain, holding his wrists up and staring at the damage she'd done.

"The gap between our power levels is just stupid," she mocked him. "You could have had this power, you know. If you'd actually worked hard and trained, you could have been _more_ than this. Instead, you wasted it all on torturing me. And for _what?_ What could you possibly have gotten out of it? You claim that you're a great warrior, and the 'strongest of all the Saiyans', etcetera, but all you really are is a predator. You look for weaker people, to make yourself feel better about being so pathetic. Tell me I'm wrong."

"Screw you, Kailan," he muttered. "I can still kill you."

"Oh really?!" she laughed. "You know what? Even if you could, I'm not gonna give you the chance. It's time, Korzhet. Try and stop me if this feels familiar."

She laid down on top of him, scooping his head up with her right calf until his face was mashed into her butt, then straightened her crossed legs out behind her and squeezed. Korzhet moaned in terror as he remembered what came next, and tried to pry her legs apart, but with two broken wrists there wasn't much he could do.

"I think being knocked out over and over again must be pretty terrifying," she said to him, but with her thighs covering his ears, he couldn't hear a word of it. "Let's see if I'm right."

She squeezed her thighs together with all she had, clenching her butt around his face as well. Within a few seconds he was out cold, so she unwrapped herself and rolled over so she was sitting next to his head, her right leg draped over his throat. He started to stir after a few more seconds, and immediately started panicking. He tried to lift her leg away from his neck, but was quickly reminded of his broken wrists.

"Dammit!" he yelled, slowly regaining his short-term memory. "What did you do to me?! You knocked me out, didn't you!"

"Yep!" she answered cheerfully. "Don't tell me you're not enjoying it. I put my butt right in your face when I squeezed you, I thought you'd like that."

"You…must…die…" he seethed, his chest heaving as he became more and more furious with her.

"Everyone's gotta die sometime," she giggled. "Well, not Kais I suppose. They're immortal."

"_SHUT UP!"_ he yelled, trying to roll away, but Kailan wrapped her legs around his neck again, and he couldn't go anywhere.

"The point is, _Korzhet_," she spat, "you _can't_ kill me. You can't even stay awake _long enough_ to kill me, even if you _could_. Here, I'll show you."

"No, _no, NO!_" he protested desperately.

Kailan forced his neck into the crook of her right knee, then tucked her right ankle in the crook of her left knee and grabbed her left foot. She waited a few moments, relishing in Korzhet's feeble attempts to free himself with his pretty much useless hands, then started squeezing again, pouring on maximum pressure instantly. Korzhet was out cold before his face even went overly red, and this time she kept squeezing a while longer, making sure he stayed out for a little while.

"What are you _doing?!_"

Kailan turned around and saw Azuki standing behind her. He looked terrible.

_But at least he's standing, and clearly, flying. That means he'll be okay._

"Torturing Korzhet," she answered gleefully. "It's a lot of fun. You want a go?"

"I wouldn't mind punching him a few times, but I think I'll leave that squeezy stuff to you," he laughed. "You like doing that, huh."

"It's humiliating," she smiled cheekily. "Perfect for Korzhet."

"Well, remind me never to piss you off."

"I promise it won't hurt…" she said softly. "You might like it…"

"Can we just finish up here?" Azuki laughed nervously, his face turning a little red. "I kinda wanna go home."

"Yeah, I suppose," she sighed in disappointment. "I was hoping to make him totally shit-scared before I finished with him, but I guess that'll do."

She grabbed hold of Korzhet's neck and held him high in the air, although with her very short stature, his feet still dangled on the ground.

"Hold on, what are you doing?" Azuki asked in a slight panic.

"Killing him, what's it look like I'm doing?" she asked in confusion.

"You can't just _kill _him," he protested.

"Why not?"

"Because –"

"Because he's your _cousin?_" she blurted. "Don't you remember all the things he's done? He _blew up the Earth_, Azuki. He's too dangerous to keep alive. If he ever finds a way off this planet, he could destroy the whole galaxy, maybe even the whole universe. _Korzhet – must – die_."

Azuki sighed and shook his head, then moved around her, snatching Korzhet's limp body from her grasp.

"Hey, what the hell –"

"I can't let you kill him, Kailan."

"What are talking about? Put him down, you moron!" she yelled angrily. "Didn't you hear a word I just said?"

"He needs a chance to redeem himself," Azuki told her. "Everyone does. Even Korzhet can be a good guy. He just needs help."

"Azuki, I love you, but you're so naïve sometimes," she snarled. "We gave him a chance to redeem himself already, and he _still_ tried to kill us. _Multiple times_. And he _destroyed the Earth_, and _everyone on it_. How many people need to die because you're too damn soft?"

"Soft?!" he argued. "Kailan, you're making yourself a murderer! You're no better than him! Don't turn yourself into something you're not."

"Azuki, you _don't_ get to tell me what I am," she growled. "Killing Korzhet won't make me a bad person. Taking the life of a mass-murderer saves thousands – no, _billions _of lives. You think as soon as I'm done here, I'm just gonna go back to Earth and continue Korzhet's work? Are you crazy?"

"Where does the line get drawn?" he countered.

"Azuki, you're being obtuse."

"No, _you're_ being cold."

"Well, you've been wrong about him before."

"That doesn't mean I'll _always_ be wrong about him."

"Azuki, you're blinded by your attachment to your family," she told him. "If you let him live, then what you're saying is that it's worth killing billions of people just to keep your family alive. Is that what you want? If it is, then _you're_ even _worse_ than he is. Don't be pious."

"I-I'm _not_ being pious. How can you accuse me of that?"

"You're trying to make a selfish decision that could adversely affect more people than you even realise currently exist," she screamed at him. "That's _pious_."

"I'm _not_ pious, I'm _not_ selfish, and I can't believe you'd even think that I am," he shouted back at her.

"Then I'm sorry," she sighed.

"Sorry?" he snorted. "Sorry for _what?_"

"For this."

Kailan hit him in the chin with her palm, making him fly backwards into the air, landing hard on his back. It hurt him all the more due to his previous injuries, and he cried out in pain, unable to even move straight away. Kailan laid down on top of him, her butt pressed against his chin, then scooped his head up with her calf the same way she had done minutes earlier with Korzhet.

"Kailan, don't you _dare!_"

"I'm sorry, Azuki," she sighed. "But I can't let you stop me from doing this. It's for the good of the whole universe. A monster like Korzhet can't be redeemed, he can only be stopped. So I'm stopping him."

"_KAILAN!_"

She squeezed as tight as she could, crushing the sides of his neck with her thighs while her butt wrapped tightly around his jaw, and in less than three seconds he was out cold. She kept squeezing for another ten seconds or so, hoping to keep him out for long enough to dispose of Korzhet. Just as she unwrapped herself and got to her feet, she felt a blast strike her in the back. She turned around, fuming mad, and saw Korzhet standing there. He'd woken up, and no longer had the energy to even transform. His legs were spread, struggling to hold his own weight, and he panted heavily with the effort of even firing a relatively weak energy blast.

She pressed the heels of her palms together in front of her, gathering energy. It glowed purple, building in size and density as she concentrated. When it became too large, she separated it into her two hands, holding them out and above her head as the twin blasts continued to grow.

"I hope you die alone," Korzhet spat. "Forgotten and unmourned, on a distant planet no one even knows exists."

"Kinda like you're about to," she replied coldly. "Sayonara, you piece of shit. _DOUBLE HELIX!_"

She threw the twin blasts forwards, and they spiralled together in a clockwise motion, striking Korzhet and consuming his entire body. The blast surged forwards, his flesh providing little resistance. She felt his energy disappear, and directed the blast harmlessly into space before dissipating it completely. She waited for the smoke and dust to clear, then tried to sense Korzhet's energy one last time. She sighed in relief as every last trace of Korzhet was now gone.

Looking behind her, she shook her head in disappointment as she made her way over to Azuki. She placed her hand on his chest and tried to sense King Kai, quickly finding him a long, long way away. She dematerialised, along with Azuki, using Instant Transmission to travel to King Kai's tiny planet.

* * *

"Kailan, was that _really_ necessary?"

"Of course it was, King Kai," she frowned. "Weren't you watching?"

"Yeah, but did you have to knock him out?"

"He was trying to stop me!" she protested. "What else could I do?"

"Ugh, I suppose you're right," King Kai admitted. "He's gonna be okay though, right?"

"He'll be a little confused for a few seconds, then a bit woozy, but he'll be fine."

"I know I'm gonna regret this," he sighed, "but would you like to stay for a meal? You've kinda earned it."

"No thanks, King Kai," she smiled sweetly. "I'm kinda looking forward to telling Mapo all about this. Not to mention telling all of Korzhet's little fan club that he's totally dead."

"You know, you look like an adorable, sweet little thing, but you can be totally ruthless and cold."

"Aww, that's so sweet of you," she giggled.

"I didn't mean it as a compliment," he frowned. "I _mean_, you probably should keep your anger in check. You've got more Vegeta in you than you realise. I don't condone what Azuki was suggesting, but you're on the verge of going too far the other way."

"No way, I could never be like Korzhet," she argued.

"You might be even worse," King Kai told her. "You seem to get some sort of sick pleasure out of torturing people. You didn't need to terrify Korzhet before you killed him, did you? But you did anyway."

"Are you saying I'm a bad person?"

"No…I'm _saying_, watch yourself. Your emotional response to people like Korzhet frankly scares the crap out of me. Just make sure you don't get too carried away. Just because you have the strength to embarrass awful, arrogant guys twice your size like Korzhet, doesn't mean you have to make it your business."

"I guess…" she sighed a little sadly. "It _is_ sorta fun though."

"I'm not gonna bother going there. Just get yourself home, already. Mapo's getting worried. And don't worry about Azuki. I'll make sure he gets trained up properly, and I'll even explain to him about how wrong he was, just for you."

"Aww, thanks King Kai!" Kailan smiled.

"I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it so you don't two don't try and kill each other when you try to explain it _your _way."

"As long as the outcome is the same," she shrugged. "By the way, how are you gonna train him? He's gonna need more than just the Kaioken technique. That wasn't even enough to beat Korzhet."

"Oh, I've got someone lined up to teach Azuki," King Kai grinned. "Someone from _Otherworld_."

"Hey! What about me? That's unfair!" she protested. "If _he_ gets special training from dead guys, then _I _should too!"

"Just go home, Kailan," he dismissed her with a wave of his hand. "I'll get in touch with Vegeta and see if he wants to help. But no promises, he's pretty picky about who he trains."

"_Prince_ Vegeta? _REALLY?!_" she squealed in excitement. "Wow! Thanks, King Kai! You're the best! I really owe you for this, I promise!"

"I'll remember that," he snorted. "Now go away! He's about to wake up. Oh, and make sure you tell Supreme Kai of Time about all this. Knowing her, she's probably forgotten all about it."

"Oh yeah, I suppose it's been about a thousand years since I saw Chronoa."

"_Don't_ call her _Chronoa!_" King Kai screamed. "You will address her as 'Supreme Kai of Time'. Don't any of you Saiyans have any respect?"

"Sure, but she's totally cool," Kailan insisted. "I think she has a bit of a thing for me, honestly. Actually, _honestly_, I totally think _I_ have a thing for _her_. Have you seen how cute she is?"

"I'm gonna forget I heard you say that," King Kai shook his head.

"Hey, no problem, so you haven't met her before," she shrugged. "I'll just take you with me when I go see her. I'm sure she'll be fine with it. Just don't be too penitent, it's kinda embarrassing."

"Kailan?"

"Yeah?"

"Go home."

Kailan touched her fingers to her forehead and sensed the Earth, quickly finding Mapo's high energy level. Waving goodbye to King Kai and wearing a smartass smile on her face, she disappeared, arriving safe and sound back at Kami's Lookout.


End file.
